by Chris Malone
Caravan site owners have received a blow after Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) confirmed that a number of value added tax (VAT) concessions are to be removed from 2012.
The body explained that its hand has been forced due to the fact that it emerged the concessions are outside its sphere of administrative discretion.
Caravanners are to be given a 12-month period of notice before concessions relating to the business rates, water and sewerage charges where consumption cannot be identified and first-time connection to utilities.
HMRC senior VAT adviser Mike McLachlan said: “We recognise that caravan site owners may have to make adjustments and that caravan owners will now incur VAT on supplies that were previously zero rated or outside the scope of VAT.”
He added that the year-long period of notice should give park owners time to make the most of the concessions before they come to an end.
Full details of the HRMC announcement can be found here.
