VAT: property development for charitable bodies

Mitigating VAT costs has never been more important for the tightly stretched Not for Profit sector. The definition of ‘solely’ has narrowed from 90% to 95% resulting in more building projects being subject to VAT at the standard rate. Errors in VAT treatment are costly, and with new rules regarding ‘change of use’ announced last year, there is further complexity to add to the mix, and the scope for innocent errors has broadened. This area has been the subject of various HMRC Briefs and Information Sheets over the last few years and this article aims to clarify the treatment, if not the terms, and explores some of the pitfalls.