The Government is allowing NHS and other state and authorised non-state bodies to pay no import duty and VAT on protective equipment, relevant medical devices or equipment brought into the UK from non-EU countries during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
It is unclear whether this relief will apply to subsidiary companies, but a non-state body can request authorisation by contacting the National Import Relief Unit (NIRU) by emailing niru@hmrc.gov.uk for an application form.
The relief will apply to imports of protective equipment, other relevant medical devices or equipment for the COVID-19 outbreak.
Full details of the relief and the relevant commodity code list you can claim relief on can be found here:
Goods imported into the UK for donation or onward sale to the NHS are also eligible for this relief and can be imported free of import duty and import VAT.
The relief currently applies until 31 July 2020. VAT on domestic supplies is not affected by this relief and VAT will still be charged as normal.
We will inform you of any further VAT easements from the Government relevant to the NHS as soon as we hear.
If you have any questions about anything in this alert, please contact us.