Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of applying a 0% VAT rate for licensed minicab operator journeys.

VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to many goods and services. VAT at the standard rate has always applied to the provision of licensed minicab services when supplied by VAT registered businesses.

While there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been strictly limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.