Vat or no vat?

Question

Our parish meeting is responsible for our village hall which is a registered charity.

we have planning permission to construct a disabled access to the hall

all level path etc

now, do you know if vat is payable or reclaimable on such a noble action or know where we can ask

hmrc says ask after the event!!?

Answer 1

Sorry, being a charity does not in itself give any benefits in relation to recovery of VAT.  Whether VAT is payable will depend on whether the supplier is registered for VAT and the nature of the supply.  If the village hall is a listed building, that would help.  The HMRC advice is unhelpful, because if there is a possibility of zero rating the work then this must be done by the supplier when the invoice is raised, and will be difficult to alter afterwards.  The supplier should be able to get advice before raising an invoice.