2012 03 29 VAT on Listed Building Work

Following the budget last week and with particular reference to VAT and Listed Buildings, our tax advisor is telling us that:

The basic position is that all work carried out prior to 1 October will still benefit from zero rating, where applicable. Work carried out thereafter will be liable to VAT at 20%.

There are, however, a couple of variations/conditions:

Any work, for which the contract has been placed, prior to 21^st March 2012, will still be zero rated up until 21 March 2013.

There will be anti-avoidance measures put in place, such that if someone invoices work in September (no VAT), but carries out the work after 1 October, HMRC will be able to charge 20% on that work. This would also apply if someone simply placed a deposit prior to October for work carried out afterwards.

Works unaffected that still qualify for the 5% VAT rate:

-  Empty for 2 years prior to work starting.
-  Converting a property from two dwellings into one, or vice versa. In fact any conversion resulting in a different number of dwellings. Best example was one where a staff flat, which was not needed, all repair/refurb work changed from 20% to 5% VAT.
-  Converting from commercial use to residential use.

We hope that this is of help but if you’d like any other information please feel free to contact us.