Charities (Vat)

Mr. Alfred Morris
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the amount of irrecoverable VAT paid by charities in the last year for which figures are available; and what proposals he has to compensate charities for lost revenue. [33022]

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
No official figures of charities' irrecoverable VAT are kept. I am currently studying proposals for a compensation scheme recently submitted to me by the charities tax reform group.