A new national campaign has been launched today by the British Healthcare Trades Association to push for zero-rate purchases of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for businesses and community groups. The campaign to scrap the ‘Heart Restart Tax’ is calling on the Government to remove the 20% VAT currently levied on defibrillators to widen defibrillator access in public spaces and thereby save lives.
Defibrillators are used to restart a person’s heart in the event of sudden cardiac arrest and early treatment can increase survival rates to as high as 70% if defibrillation is given within three to five minutes of collapse.
Despite this, only AEDs purchased by or donated to specific charities, local authorities and the NHS are exempt from VAT – increasing the cost of purchase for community groups, small businesses and other organisations. In 2022, the Irish Government announced that VAT rates on defibrillators would be removed from January 2023, a measure designed to save lives and reduce pressure on healthcare services.
The British Healthcare Trades Association believe that scrapping the Heart Restart Tax in the UK will be an important step to see similar results and boost numbers of available defibrillators for use in public spaces and workplaces.
David Stockdale, Chief Executive of the British Healthcare Trades Association, said:
“The lifesaving potential of defibrillator is well documented, so it’s astonishing that these vital devices continue to be treated – at least in tax terms – as secondary to other medical products and treatments. Almost three quarters of cardiac arrests happen in the home or a workplace and half of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are witnessed by a bystander. Despite this, public access defibrillators are used in less than 1 in 10 instances – there simply is not enough defibrillators on our streets, in our offices and our community spaces. The case for scrapping this ‘heart restart’ tax is irrefutable and it’s high time the Chancellor takes action.”