Charity Welfare Services (VAT Exemption)

HC Deb 29 October 1998 vol 318 cc226-7W

Mr. Caplin

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will announce the outcome of the review by Customs and Excise of the VAT exemption for charity welfare services. [57891]

Ms Hewitt

From today Customs and Excise will be consulting interested parties to agree the circumstances in which a wider range of charity welfare services will be exempt. Customs is reviewing its policy following a recent VAT and Duties Tribunal decision. This extended the definition of welfare services to include daily living tasks such as cooking, cleaning and laundry, where there was sufficiently high risk to the recipients' health because of their inability to perform these tasks safely themselves.