Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of removing VAT from defibrillator sales on (a) public access to defibrillators and (b) survival rates for cardiac arrest patients in areas where fewer than half of postcodes have access to a defibrillator within the recommended response time.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

This question was answered on 27th November 2024

The Government currently provides VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of defibrillators. For example, when an AED is purchased with funds provided by a charity and then donated to an eligible body no VAT is charged. Furthermore, all state schools in England have been fitted with AEDs.

The Government keeps all taxes under review including consideration of impacts. A key consideration for any potential VAT relief is whether savings would be passed on to the consumer, and evidence suggests that savings are not always passed on.

VAT is, in addition, the UK's second largest tax forecast to raise £171 billion in 2024/25, and taxation is a vital source of revenue which helps to fund public services, including the NHS. While we keep all taxes under review, the Government has therefore no current plans to make changes to the VAT treatment of AEDs.