{"alias":"contentPage","byline":null,"standfirst":null,"content":{"layouts":[{"type":"sidebar","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPage last reviewed:\u003C/strong\u003E October 2025\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe following does not apply within Jersey, Guernsey or to British Scouting Overseas, but the Isle of Man has VAT legislation that parallels UK legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003EGeneral\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeneral charities\u003C/strong\u003E \u2013 which includes scout groups/districts/Counties/Areas/And Scottish regions \u2013 do not have widespread exemption from VAT on their expenditure. The circumstances in which you can claim back any VAT charged to your unit are very limited. For example, when a group purchases a tent it cannot recover any VAT charged\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EReliefs and exemptions\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ECharities do benefit from a number of specific VAT reliefs and exemptions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMost of the income a typical scout group receives is either:\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u2018Exempt\u2019 from VAT under exemptions which apply to membership organisations or not-for-profit education providers; or\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u2018Non-business\u2019 and therefore outside the scope of VAT. That includes subscriptions and donations. See \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-vat-affects-charities-notice-7011#deciding-whether-your-activities-are-business-or-non-business\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022VAT Notice 701/1\u0022 data-anchor=\u0022#deciding-whether-your-activities-are-business-or-non-business\u0022\u003EVAT Notice 701/1 section 4\u00A0\u003C/a\u003Efor information on the meaning of the word \u2018business\u2019 in the context of VAT.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ul\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERegistration\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EYou do not charge or reclaim VAT unless you are registered. It is compulsory to register for VAT if your income after excluding everything which is exempt or outside the scope of VAT exceeds \u00A390,000 (from 1 April 2025). Hence most Scout units are not compelled to register and will not need to learn the complexities of VAT.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIf your income is less than the compulsory registration limit \u2013 \u00A390,000 from 1 April 2025 \u2013 and you have \u0027business\u0027 activities you might benefit from registering voluntarily for VAT. Because of the complexity of the system, you will need to have a fairly precise knowledge of your future income and expenditure and perform careful calculations to know whether you would benefit. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMost scout charities are unlikely to would not benefit. Registering also commits you to charging VAT on your non-exempt business income, and since most of the \u2018customers\u2019 are unlikely to recover VAT your charges are effectively higher.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EUnfortunately, The Scout Association is unable to give any specific advice due to the complexities of VAT and therefore it is recommended that you contact a VAT advisor if you have any specific questions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERecovery\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERegistering for VAT does not mean that you can recover all the VAT you pay on your expenses. Because much of your income is exempt from VAT your ability to recover VAT is severely restricted. Complex rules apply which can be found in \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://www.gov.uk/guidance/partial-exemption-vat-notice-706\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022HMRC notice 706\u0022\u003EHMRC VAT Notice 706.\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFor example, camping equipment supplied by the group for use by members represents either a non-business or exempt supply by that group, and as a result the group cannot recover any VAT on the purchase of that equipment. If the group hires out that equipment to a non-scout organisation then if the group has registered for VAT it would need to charge VAT on the hire fees. It could then recover VAT on the equipment cost, but only a percentage of that VAT. That percentage is normally calculated by dividing the value of income of all types on which VAT is due by the total of all income, excluding non-business income. This percentage will normally be small.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EBuildings\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENew buildings acquired by scout charities may be zero-rated for VAT (i.e. no VAT is added to the cost) provided certain detailed conditions apply. This is explained more fully in \u003C/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022/volunteers/running-things-locally/finances-and-insurance/vat/vat-on-construction-of-new-buildings-for-scouting/\u0022 title=\u0022VAT on construction of new buildings for Scouting\u0022\u003EVAT on Scout buildings\u003Cspan\u003E.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003ESummary\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAlthough most aspects of VAT can be outlined simply there are usually many exceptions or detailed conditions which must be met for a particular relief to apply.\u003C/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-vat-affects-charities-notice-7011\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022How VAT affects charities (VAT Notice 701/1)\u0022\u003EHMRC VAT Notice 701/1\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u00A0outlines how VAT affects charities. Scout groups will mostly be interested in Section 6.1 which deals with reliefs relevant to expenditure. Section 5 deals with VAT on different types of income, but remember that you do not charge VAT at all unless you are registered.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]},{"items":[{"type":"Promo","cta":"Learn more about VAT on buildings","body":"","link":{"name":"VAT on construction of new buildings for Scouting","id":null,"url":"/volunteers/running-things-locally/finances-and-insurance/vat/vat-on-construction-of-new-buildings-for-scouting/","newWindow":false,"target":null},"colour":"#0061ce","title":"VAT on Scout buildings","image":null,"imageFocus":"","imageId":0,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"type":"Promo","cta":"Learn more about tax exemptions","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAll Scout groups, districts, counties/Areas and Scottish regions (but not English Regions) are charities and thus can benefit from tax exemptions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","link":{"name":"Tax exemptions for Scout units","id":null,"url":"/volunteers/running-things-locally/finances-and-insurance/vat/tax-exemptions-for-scout-units/","newWindow":false,"target":null},"colour":"#0061ce","title":"Tax exemptions for Scout units","image":null,"imageFocus":"","imageId":0,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":"Information on UK VAT for Groups, Districts, Counties, Areas and Scottish Regions","pageType":null,"location":null,"browserTitle":"","versionDate":"15 July 2023","reviewDate":"22/10/2020","redirectUrl":"","id":47234,"nodeName":"VAT","title":"VAT","type":"contentPage","image":null,"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"VAT","headerSubTitle":"Information on UK VAT for Groups, Districts, Counties, Areas and Scottish Regions","headerCta":"","headerCtaText":"","headerCtaLink":"","headerBackgroundColour":"006ddf","showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":[]},"subHeader":"Information on UK VAT for Groups, Districts, Counties, Areas and Scottish Regions","silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC80NzIzNCJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/volunteers/running-things-locally/finances-and-insurance/vat/"}