High time to scrap VAT on mountain lifesavers

THEY are funded almost entirely by voluntary donations - but are having to fork out as much as £200,000 a year in UK Government taxes on vital equipment.

Now the SNP is calling for Scotland's mountain rescue teams to be made exempt from VAT - in line with pledges given by the Liberal Democrats before the General Election.

Rescue teams currently rack up a VAT bill of 150,000 to 200,000 a year on a range of items, from climbing ropes to boots and waterproofs - and costs will increase in January when VAT increases by 2.5 per cent to a new rate of 20 per cent.

In a letter to Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, Falkirk West MSP Michael Matheson - also a member of Ochils Mountain Rescue Team - said the 12 rescue teams in Scotland could use the money given over in VAT to pay for extra equipment to enhance safety on the mountains.

Mr Matheson pointed to work by the mountain rescue services in recent weeks, when volunteers used their 4x4 vehicles to help people in the severe weather and remained on standby.

"It is utterly ridiculous that mountain rescue teams continue to pay VAT," he said. "The mountain rescue team pays 150,000 to 200,000 a year in VAT. With 12 teams in Scotland, that is money that could be spent on new vehicles, training or equipment that could help save lives."

Mr Matheson referred to a comment made by Mr Alexander on 4 May this year when he said that it had "never been right" for a "vital service which relies on donations from the public and extraordinary commitment from volunteers" to be hit with a Government tax bill. He added: "The day before the UK election Danny Alexander said anyone who uses our outdoors owes mountain rescue a debt. The UK Government owes mountain rescue more than a debt, it owes them hundreds of thousands of pounds in VAT - not just in Scotland but across the UK.

"Mountain rescue do an incredibly valuable job and they should be supported. Instead of taking VAT off mountain rescue, the Lib Dems are putting it up."

The Scottish Government last year issued a 300,000 grant to mountain rescue teams.

"In Scotland, the SNP Government has provided funding for mountain rescue - but it is disappointing to see that some of this funding returns to the Treasury in the form of VAT and that that amount is set to increase due to the UK Government's refusal to back moves to exempt Mountain Rescue from the VAT increase," wrote Mr Matheson.Alf Ingram, chairman of the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland, said teams have been fighting for a VAT exemption for many years.

He said that while some equipment, like flares, are zero rated for VAT if used for rescues at sea, the exemption does not apply for mountain teams.

He said: "Even parity on these things would be a step forward.

"If we don't have to raise 200,000 a year that goes to the taxman, that is 200,000 that could used for upgrading equipment and vehicles. Its anomalous that we are providing a service free of charge to the authorities that we then have to pay tax on."

No one at the Treasury was available for comment yesterday. It has previously claimed that there is no scope within the framework of EU VAT law for extending the relief the teams already receive.