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No VAT break for mountain rescue medical equipment sales
15/07/2010
Sales of medical equipment to mountain rescue teams will remain subject to VAT rises, after a move to freeze it was rejected by MPs.
The defeat on the Opposition amendment on mountain rescue services was the closest Commons vote so far in this Parliament. It had been championed by Liberal Democrat MP, Tim Farron, who abstained from voting.
It is now thought that volunteer mountain rescue teams will be faced with annual bills for equipment of as much a £28,000 more than previously, due to the 2.5 per cent VAT increase.
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liam Byrne, said, “It is the most extraordinary betrayal of Britain’s most deserving.”
Contracts with mountain resuce teams are extremely valuable to medical equipment sales companies. During the debate on the issue, Cumbrian MP Tony Cunningham praised the mountain rescuers, citing them as "a sort of forgotten emergency service."
He continued, "No better example of this could be given than what happened last November during the floods, when the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team saved people’s lives and did an incredible job."
The 79 volunteer mountain rescue teams in England and Wales pay an estimated £200,000 a year in VAT at present. English and Welsh teams receive no direct financial support from the Westminster Government or the Welsh Assembly Government, although the Scottish teams receive £300,000 annually from the Scottish government.
The defeat on the Opposition amendment on mountain rescue services was the closest Commons vote so far in this Parliament. It had been championed by Liberal Democrat MP, Tim Farron, who abstained from voting.
It is now thought that volunteer mountain rescue teams will be faced with annual bills for equipment of as much a £28,000 more than previously, due to the 2.5 per cent VAT increase.
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liam Byrne, said, “It is the most extraordinary betrayal of Britain’s most deserving.”
Contracts with mountain resuce teams are extremely valuable to medical equipment sales companies. During the debate on the issue, Cumbrian MP Tony Cunningham praised the mountain rescuers, citing them as "a sort of forgotten emergency service."
He continued, "No better example of this could be given than what happened last November during the floods, when the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team saved people’s lives and did an incredible job."
The 79 volunteer mountain rescue teams in England and Wales pay an estimated £200,000 a year in VAT at present. English and Welsh teams receive no direct financial support from the Westminster Government or the Welsh Assembly Government, although the Scottish teams receive £300,000 annually from the Scottish government.
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