Air Ambulance fuel duty petition

[na]

thanks all

still a way to go, need another 40,000 people to sign up

[Farmerpalmer]

done.
paying VAT is just daft - life saving is not a luxury.

[na]

wow, jumped to 71,000 the word must be getting around

[Munter]

na said:

wow, jumped to 71,000 the word must be getting around

I saw tiff tweet it the other day. So once it hit a few "celebs" I guess more signed.

[na]

Munter said:

na said:

wow, jumped to 71,000 the word must be getting around

I saw tiff tweet it the other day. So once it hit a few "celebs" I guess more signed.

what a pity that it takes a celeb to get the message across but good on Tiff

if the stack of st he used to work with got behind it it'd be filled in a couple of days

[STash07]

Done

[Blipi]

I'm in and will spread the word!

[Munter]

Had an interesting conversation today on this. Apparently the RNLI don't pay VAT because they are a charity and so are essentially VAT exempt. Which begs the question why the Air Ambulance is paying VAT right now without any changes to rules?

Assuming the chap I was talking to was right....

[MikeGTi]

Signed and passed around the office.

[na]

thanks all

as for what and why who knows the way of governments

[finefettlefilly]

Done. (119,000 plus signatures now)

[paulrussell]

I don't think Air Ambulances pay VAT on fuel. Air Ambulances are set up by charities. Also Parliament won't be forced into discussion if the petition reches 100,000 signutares.

[na]

paulrussell said:

I don't think Air Ambulances pay VAT on fuel.

I cut and pasted in good faith but I'll contact the Association of Air Ambulances to check

paulrussell said:

Also Parliament won't be forced into discussion if the petition reches 100,000 signutares.

that was my mistake I think sorry my poor memory

you are right it says 'if it gets at least 100,000 signatures, it will be eligible for debate in the House of Commons.'

update: email now sent

Edited by na on Sunday 25th March 20:44

[na]

na said:

paulrussell said:

I don't think Air Ambulances pay VAT on fuel.

I cut and pasted in good faith but I'll contact the Association of Air Ambulances to check

update: email now sent

Paul, Air Ambulances do pay VAT on fuel, there is a slight twist but here are the details:

Dear Mr Atkins, many thanks for the message. The petition is quite correct in that Air Ambulances do pay VAT on most of their fuel. The situation is complicated by the fact that some Air Ambulances are provided with fuel via their helicopter supplier and in these circumstances they do not actually pay the VAT themselves. In any situation where an Air Ambulance helicopter refuels from a publicly available fuel source then VAT will be payable. I hope this makes sense.

Kind regards,
Peter Aldrick
Association of Air Ambulances.

[paulrussell]

na said:

Paul, Air Ambulances do pay VAT on fuel, there is a slight twist but here are the details:

Dear Mr Atkins, many thanks for the message. The petition is quite correct in that Air Ambulances do pay VAT on most of their fuel. The situation is complicated by the fact that some Air Ambulances are provided with fuel via their helicopter supplier and in these circumstances they do not actually pay the VAT themselves. In any situation where an Air Ambulance helicopter refuels from a publicly available fuel source then VAT will be payable. I hope this makes sense.

Kind regards,
Peter Aldrick
Association of Air Ambulances.

It appears that I'm mistaken. I thought Air Ambulances were set up as charities to avoid paying VAT.

I've signed the petition.

Edited by paulrussell on Monday 26th March 15:00

[mybrainhurts]

paulrussell said:

na said:

Paul, Air Ambulances do pay VAT on fuel, there is a slight twist but here are the details:

Dear Mr Atkins, many thanks for the message. The petition is quite correct in that Air Ambulances do pay VAT on most of their fuel. The situation is complicated by the fact that some Air Ambulances are provided with fuel via their helicopter supplier and in these circumstances they do not actually pay the VAT themselves. In any situation where an Air Ambulance helicopter refuels from a publicly available fuel source then VAT will be payable. I hope this makes sense.

Kind regards,
Peter Aldrick
Association of Air Ambulances.

It appears that I'm mistaken. I thought Air Ambulances were set up as charities to avoid paying VAT.

What is a "publicly available fuel source"?

Thought aviation fuel was free from taxation?

And, if VAT is charged, why can't they reclaim it, like any other business?

[na]

paulrussell said:

It appears that I'm mistaken. I thought Air Ambulances were set up as charities to avoid paying VAT.

I'll have to find out perhaps the hassle and cost of reclaiming plus it might be funds not available for their primary use and loss of interest on money - I don't know but will find out

paulrussell said:

I've signed the petition.

thank you

[na]

mybrainhurts said:

What is a "publicly available fuel source"?

I'll leave you to work that out for yourself, based on your user name take your time

mybrainhurts said:

Thought aviation fuel was free from taxation?

I'll ask

mybrainhurts said:

And, if VAT is charged, why can't they reclaim it, like any other business?

again I'll ask, I suspect things might not be that straight forward if it's to do with tax, legislation and government

[mybrainhurts]

na said:

mybrainhurts said:

What is a "publicly available fuel source"?

I'll leave you to work that out for yourself, based on your user name take your time

Very gracious of you, thanks, but please share your knowledge. Where can the public get jet fuel, and why would they want it?

[ninja-lewis]

mybrainhurts said:

What is a "publicly available fuel source"?

Thought aviation fuel was free from taxation?

And, if VAT is charged, why can't they reclaim it, like any other business?

Think they mean when they refuel at another airport rather than at their own base through a private contract with their fuel supplier.

It seems the main reason why they can't reclaim the VAT is because the provision of an ambulance comes under medical supplies, which are exempt from VAT and therefore input VAT cannot be reclaimed. This being a key difference between those goods and services categorised as 'VAT Exempt' and those that are 'Zero-rated'. The latter are subject to VAT, it just happens that the rate is 0%.

Ultimately like any VAT issue, it all goes back to the EU.