Rates at a glance
| Work or supply | Rate |
|---|---|
| Constructing ramps, and widening doorways and passages | 0% |
| Providing, extending or adapting a bathroom, washroom or lavatory where the person's condition makes it necessary | 0% |
| Installing a lift between floors | 0% |
| Alarm call systems | 0% |
| General building work, extensions and improvements beyond the specified items | 20% |
The rate for your project depends on its facts. Each line of a quote is rated on its own.
Does yours qualify?
The headline tests. All of them have to hold.
- The work is supplied to a disabled person.
- It is carried out at that person's private residence.
- The work is one of the specified items, which are a ramp, a widened doorway or passage, a bathroom, washroom or lavatory, a lift between floors, or an alarm call system.
Plus 3 further points we test. These are the ones that are easy to miss, and any one of them can change the answer. A qualification report works through every one against your documents.
About the qualification reportWhere projects go wrong
- Applying the zero rate because the customer is disabled. The relief follows the kind of work, and work that is not on the list is 20%.
- A bedroom or living room extension. Extra rooms are general building work, however necessary they are, and only the specified items inside the project can be zero rated.
We check for 4 more pitfalls on every project of this kind. Most only come to light once the work has been invoiced, which is the expensive time to find them.
What it can be worth
A ground-floor adaptation with a bedroom extension
A builder quotes £74,000 before VAT to adapt a house for a wheelchair user who lives there. The job includes a new ground-floor bedroom as well as the adaptations.
| Item | Net | Rate | VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entrance ramp | £6,500 | 0% | £0 |
| Widening three doorways and the hallway | £8,200 | 0% | £0 |
| Ground-floor wet room, formed and fitted out | £19,800 | 0% | £0 |
| Lift between ground and first floor, supplied and installed | £16,500 | 0% | £0 |
| Alarm call system | £1,500 | 0% | £0 |
| Bedroom extension, shell and finishes | £17,500 | 20% | £3,500 |
| Redecoration of other rooms | £2,400 | 20% | £480 |
| Carpets | £1,600 | 20% | £320 |
| Total | £74,000 | £4,300 |
- VAT if quoted at 20% throughout
- £14,800
- VAT rated line by line
- £4,300
- Difference
- £10,500
An example to show how the rates fall when specified adaptations are combined with general building work. It is not a figure for your project.
How we help with adaptations for disabled people
We tell you which items in the builder's quote fall within the zero rate for adaptations and which are general building work. You get a clear answer on what qualifies, with the reasoning written down so the builder can see the basis for each rate. Most adaptation projects contain both kinds of work, and we say plainly which is which.
A line-by-line analysis then gives you the right rate for each item on the quote and a letter for your builder setting out what to charge. It is best done before you accept the quote. We do not deal with HMRC on your behalf. There is more on our homeowners page. To start, send us your quote.
Questions
Is building work for a disabled person VAT free?
Only certain work. Ramps, widened doorways and passages, a bathroom, washroom or lavatory needed because of the person's condition, a lift between floors and alarm call systems are zero rated at the person's own home. General building work, extensions and improvements outside that list are 20%.
Is a wet room for a disabled person zero rated?
It can be. Providing, extending or adapting a bathroom, washroom or lavatory at a disabled person's private residence is zero rated where the work is necessary because of their condition. The customer gives the contractor a written declaration to support it.
Is an extension for a disabled person zero rated?
Not as a whole. An extension is general building work and is 20%. If the extension contains a bathroom, washroom or lavatory that the person's condition makes necessary, that part can be zero rated and the price is split between the two.
Based on the Value Added Tax Act 1994 and HMRC's published guidance. This page explains how the rules work in general. It is not advice on your project, and no rate applies until the facts have been analysed.
