Can outsourced leisure centres benefit from the VAT ruling?

By Julian Jarrett and Scott Dorling | 28 November 2023

In March this year, HMRC announced a significant change to the VAT treatment of local authority leisure services. Prior to March 2023, local authorities managing leisure services in-house treated these services as business activities for VAT purposes . These services are now classified as non-business supplies meaning there is no VAT on income and all VAT on related expenditure can be reclaimed.

This change directly affects around 20% of leisure facilities which amounts to roughly £100,000 – £150,000 per centre per annum.

Want full article access?


Receive The MJ magazine each week and gain access to all the content on this website with a subscription.

Full website content includes additional, exclusive commentary and analysis on the issues affecting local government.

Already a subscriber? Login

Leisure Legal Procurement Outsourcing
Top