Zero Rate VAT - Do I Qualify?

The disabled and chronically sick can qualify to buy certain items in the UK without paying VAT at the standard rate.

Disabled or chronically sick people don’t have to pay VAT when they buy equipment that has been designed solely for people with disability or on the adaptation of equipment so they can use it.

Goods bought in this way are described as 'zero-rated' or 'eligible for VAT relief'.

However, not everything that is supplied to disabled people is zero-rated for VAT.

VAT law states that you must be ‘chronically sick or disabled’ to buy at zero rate VAT.

A person is deemed to be chronically sick or disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a long-term, severe effect on their ability to carry out their day-to-day lives.

The condition must also be one which doctors treat as a chronic sickness.

The terminally ill also qualify.

A person with a temporary injury like a broken leg would not qualify, nor would a frail older person who was generally able-bodied.

A product or service must also be supplied for the individual's 'personal and domestic use'.

This means you cannot buy at zero rate if the products will be used for business purposes, or if the user is staying or living in a hospital or nursing home, as part of their medical or surgical treatment or with any form of care.