Charity plea to scrap VAT on defibrillators
JON MACPHERSON
AHYNDBURN charity which raises money to buy lifesaving defibrillator equipment has backed calls for the government to scrap VAT charges.
Hyndburn council will write to the Department for Health and the Treasury urging ministers to abolish VAT on automated external defibrillators.
Councillors say they are a ‘vital medical aid which have been proved to save lives’ and scrapping VAT will help reduce their cost.
The Philip Maher Foundation, based in Great Harwood, has installed around a dozen defibrillators across the borough since 2015. Stuart Maher set up the charity following the death of his father Philip in January 2015. The 62-yearold from Great Harwood collapsed suddenly of a heart attack during a football match with friends.
Stuart, who is supporting the council, said: “It’s quite remarkable that any equipment designed to save lives have a tax charge on them.
“If they were going to reduce taxes on anything then that should be at the top of their priority list.
“It’s great to have the council’s support and if it can prompt some change at a national level then it would be greatly appreciated by both ourselves and other charities.”
The council will write to the government after a motion was unanimously passed at a meeting last week.
Greater Harwood councillor Noordad Aziz, who proposed the motion, said scrapping VAT would allow charities like the Philip Maher Foundation to provide 20pc more defibrillators and ‘save more lives’.
He told the meeting: “I’m of the opinion that all medical supplies should be VAT free because they are a necessity.”
Coun Bernadette Par- kinson, who seconded the motion, said: “I pay tribute to the wonderful work the Philip Maher Foundation has undertaken in Great Harwood, Hyndburn and Lancashire.
“This is a non-profit organisation based in the community, for the community, and they are hoping to make a difference.
“If the NHS or local authorities purchase these pieces of life saving equipment then there is no VAT on them, however if a community purchases one then VAT is added.
“If it was removed then they would be able to buy the sixth machine for free.”
Hyndburn Mayor Peter Britcliffe added: “It seems absolutely ridiculous to me that there should be VAT on defibrillators.”