Debate on VAT on sunscreen products

European VAT law limits the discretion of Member State to set lower VAT rates on individual goods and services. With the UK having left the EU, EU VAT law no longer imposes limitations to VAT reforms in the UK.  

In the 2020 Budget the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced with the UK’s exit the Government would introduce a new zero rate of VAT on women’s sanitary protection.  This new zero rate came into force from 1 January 2021. Since then the Government has not made any substantial changes to the range of VAT reliefs, although the Treasury has received many requests for changes in the VAT treatment of various goods and services.

In her request to the Backbench Business Committee for a debate on VAT on sunscreen products, Amy Callaghan MP argued that there was “appetite across the House for reform of the VAT charged on sunscreen products, but even more fundamentally, there is a lack of awareness in our communities that sunscreen products are not VAT-exempt compared with other healthcare products.” The Member has launched a campaign for this change in the law.