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    VAT & Medical Sector

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    VAT & Medical Sector

    The VAT treatment on goods and services provided by registered health professionals – including doctors, dentists and physiotherapists – demands careful consideration.

    Where the service is principally aimed at the protection, maintenance or restoration of health of the person concerned, the supply is exempt. However, you need to be absolutely certain of your ground because you are not entitled to recover VAT on your costs and you will not want to be out of pocket.

    A ‘health professional’ is accepted by HMRC to mean the following professionals when they are enrolled or registered on the appropriate statutory register:

    • Medical practitioners
    • Optometrists and dispensing opticians
    • Osteopaths
    • Chiropractors
    • Nurses, midwives and health visitors
    • Dentists, dental hygienists, dental therapists, dental nurses, clinical dental technicians, dental technicians and orthodontic therapists
    • Pharmacists
    • Professionals registered under the Health Professions Order 2001. These professionals are: Arts therapists, biomedical scientists, chiropodists or podiatrists, clinical scientists, dietitians, hearing aid dispensers, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, paramedics, physiotherapists, practitioner psychologists, prosthetists and orthodontists, radiographers and speech and language therapists
    • Osteopaths
    • Chiropractors
    • Nurses, midwives and health visitors
    • Dentists, dental hygienists, dental therapists, dental nurses, clinical dental technicians, dental technicians and orthodontic therapists
    • Pharmacists

     

    Medical services supplied for cosmetic reason or in connection with a legal or insurance matter do not qualify for exemption, so from a business owner’s perspective, where many of the aforementioned services are offered ‘under the same roof’, it is essential to understand the VAT position of every service being offered.

    HMRC takes a great deal of interest in this sector and sometimes engages other professionals to review the services undertaken to help determine the VAT status.

     

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