VAT refund schemes ― museums and galleries

Produced by a Tolley Value Added Tax expert

Value Added Tax

Guidance

This guidance note covers the special VAT refund scheme that applies to certain museums and galleries.

For in-depth commentary on the legislation, see De Voil Indirect Tax Service V5.162A.

VAT refund scheme for museums and galleries ― the basics

Museums and galleries which allow members of the public to enter free of charge can apply to join a scheme entitling them to refunds of VAT incurred on costs which would not otherwise be recoverable.

To be eligible for the scheme a museum must meet certain conditions, such as being open to the general public for at least 30 hours per week.

The application process involves obtaining support from one of a set of governmental administrations or departments (eg the Department for Culture, Media and Sport).

Once within the scheme, the museum or gallery may reclaim VAT which is attributable to free admission. This can include (for example) VAT incurred on items and collections on display.

Museums and galleries which can apply to join the scheme

To qualify for the scheme

Continue reading the full document

To gain access to additional expert tax guidance, workflow tools, generative tax AI, and tax research, register for a free trial of Tolley+™

TAKE A FREE TRIAL NOW

Popular Articles

Owner-Managed Businesses

Wholly and exclusively

Wholly and exclusivelyFor both income tax and corporation tax purposes, one of the fundamental conditions that must be satisfied for an item of expenditure to be deductible, is that it must incurred ‘wholly and exclusively’ for the purposes of the trade, profession or vocation. References to CTA

14 Jul 2020 14:00 | Produced by Tolley Read more

Corporation Tax

Qualifying charitable donations

Qualifying charitable donationsCompanies can obtain corporation tax relief for qualifying payments or certain transfers of assets to charity under the qualifying charitable donations regime. Definition of qualifying charitable donationThe definition of ‘qualifying charitable donations’

14 Jul 2020 13:03 | Produced by Tolley Read more

Personal Tax

Maintenance payments

Maintenance paymentsMaintenance payments are payments made by a taxpayer to their former or separated spouse / civil partner for the maintenance of that person or their children. To obtain any tax relief for maintenance payments, one of the couple must have been born before 5 April 1935 and the

14 Jul 2020 12:12 | Produced by Tolley Read more

VAT refund schemes ― museums and galleries

VAT refund schemes ― museums and galleries

VAT refund scheme for museums and galleries ― the basics