The Government’s response to the VAT consultation has just been published, with the section on listed buildings received the highest number of responses – 818 in total.
The Federation of Master Builders [FMB] reports on it as following:
The transitional arrangements have been improved…:
Projects will now also continue to benefit from zero-rating if listed building consent (or the equivalent approval for listed places of worship) had been applied for before 21 March 2012 (Budget day). This is in addition to the works which qualify because there was a written contract in place before Budget day or because it was a substantial reconstruction project meeting the 10% test.
The Government will also extend the end of the transitional period to 30 September 2015, allowing qualifying projects to continue to benefit from zero rating for 3 ½ years, or 4 summers. This should ensure that the majority of qualifying projects underway at Budget should qualify for transitional relief.
However, the Government still intends to remove the zero rate from 1 October this year and will now introduce this change during the Report stages of the Finance Bill, scheduled to take place on Monday and Tuesday next week.
[FMB] will be briefing some MPs before the debate and I know the Countryside Alliance and The Heritage Alliance are doing the same. If others can send briefings as well that’s even better.
The document is available HERE: LINK
