Written question asked by Barry Sheerman (Labour) on Friday, 27 April 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 1 May 2012. It was answered by David Gauke (Conservative) on Tuesday, 1 May 2012 on behalf of the Treasury.

VAT

Question: (2) if he will make it his policy to remove VAT from housing repairs, maintenance and improvement works for the purpose of stimulating the economy.

Answer: There is no change to the VAT treatment of repairs to listed buildings. They have always been subject to VAT. Annex B—Tables of Impact for Individual Measures in HM Revenue and Customs consultation document ““VAT: Addressing Borderline Anomalies””, published at Budget 2012, sets out estimates for VAT which will be raised from approved alterations to listed buildings and a summary of impacts upon which comments are invited"http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf"It is not possible to introduce a VAT zero rate for housing repairs, maintenance and improvement works. The UK retains its zero rates of VAT under longstanding formal agreements with other member states. Under the terms of those agreements, we cannot extend the scope of existing zero rates nor introduce new ones.

Secondary information