UK Gov petition to force debate on VAT on fuel for Air Ambulances

[Steve M]

Calling all Brits who think Air Ambulances should not have to pay VAT on fuel. Please take a moment to sign this government petition to force the debate in parliament.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29349

Cheers all

 

[hedgerowpete]

if everyone else has to?

why should there be a difference, at the end of the day it all comes out of my pocket i pay no matter what, the tax man and government are very good at that.

out of intrest as a comparison, do normal road going ambulances pay road duty tax disks and vat on their diesel. and considering the life span of there vehicals and lives saved per day/mile/shift. what would be the comparision to an air abulance.

yes they do fantastic work etc etc so do paramedic cyclists, what is the special seperation.

I think a more well rounded and informed request asking people to sign any government petition would get you more results faster than the above post. whilst the passion and support is spot on and i will sign up later when i do the other government petitions. you need to organise a more informed plea that reaches people better.

just an opinion, pete

 

[Retired Member southey]

Aren't most if not all air amubulance units run as charities? Where as NHS abulance services are state funded?

 

[hedgerowpete]

i dont know the OP did not state the case very well, but i think your right they might be so what are the tax and vat breaks for a charity. a cleaner and better posting would have helped. i have just come back from the gov web site after my vote for them, is it me or do some of these petitions seam like a complete waste of time, i cant see how they make a difference, where as say 10,000 people sending an email or letter each to all of the polititions would seam a more concreted effort.

bing bong click
you have mail click
unread emails click
you have ten thousand unread emails today. number one click!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is the front cover from the epetition;

e-petition
Return VAT on Air Ambulance fuel payments.
Responsible department: Her Majesty's Treasury


The Air Ambulance Service is forced to meet rising fuel prices year on year including VAT.
The Air Ambulance Service have saved successive governments millions and millions of pounds funded by charitable donations given by the general public to run what has proven to be an essential service.

Whilst the Lifeboat Service has been exempt from VAT on fuel costs since 1977, a similar privilege has not been afforded to the Air Ambulance Service;

We call on the government to have an urgent review of this situation and in doing so
We call on the government to return in the form of grants to Air Ambulance Service providers all the future VAT which the Treasury collects from them so that the Air Ambulance Service is in practice exempt from paying VAT in the same way as the Lifeboat Service.


Sign this petition and you should they do a brilliant job and deserve our support.

 

[kiltedpict]

AFAIK, only the Scottish Ambulance Service have aircraft (2x Eurocopter EC135 and 2x Beechcraft KingAir fixed wing) which are NHS (taxpayer) funded, while all air ambulances in England and Wales are charity- run.

ATB

KP

 

[Steve M]

if everyone else has to?

Apart from those who don't like Lifeboats and reduced like buses, farmers and construction vehicles. International passage jet fuel has no tax either.

 

[Steve M]

is it me or do some of these petitions seam like a complete waste of time, i cant see how they make a difference, where as say 10,000 people sending an email or letter each to all of the polititions would seam a more concreted effort.

As it has reached over 100,000 signatures, it necessarily will be raised in the house.

bing bong click
you have mail click
unread emails click
you have ten thousand unread emails today. number one click!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The response to which is to find a technical solution to filtering them out so that other emails can be located.

I assert that it's easier to find 100,000 people to click click click than it is to get 10,000 to send an email to one person. The Fish Fight campaign with TV and all the HFW mallarky illicited a response of 60,000 emails being send to MEPs, yet their click click click campaign now stands at almost 800,000.

Yes, it might be that the wording could have been better, but I guess not everyone is as analytical as you when looking into such things and the general point that a tax break being given to an essential service, whether it be government funded or otherwise, sounds like an idea worth debating.

 

[Retired Member southey]

Signed,,,,,,,,

 

[hedgerowpete]

i do appoligise if i seam negative, but i have signed,

but to me personaly, i am extreamly petition weary to the point now. that any form of pity or plea or charity, is normaly refused without looking at or binned,

i am also extreamly cynical of any government petition aswell, i have followed a few that go past the 100,000 limit and yes they were mentioned in parliment and as quickly as they were mentioned they were dismissed. so it seems a little pointless at times. we all know how biased the political system is, against the inocent and worthy, i would rather see the billions that are ear marked for the high speed train link to london spent on a fuel saving first.

i have seen a few but not many requests here before and to be honest i dont normaly do much more than to delete them. his one is worth fighting for and the OP should have done a better starting statement and sold the ideas better.

why cant the life boat and the helicopter rescue and mountainn doo as the french and most of the world does, come and visit you in hospital to see how you are and to drop the bill off !!

 

[tinderbox]

why cant the life boat and the helicopter rescue and mountainn doo as the french and most of the world does, come and visit you in hospital to see how you are and to drop the bill off !!

Life boats are manned by volunteers and entirely funded by public donation. The RNLI refuses government funding. They are one of the few big charities that I will still give money to.

Mountain Rescue, another I give money to, is once again staffed by volunteers. All the Mountain Rescue people I know are against charges but they do get irked by unnecessary call outs.

Helicopter rescue, as opposed to ambulance, is a by product of military training and exercises. It's just using an infrastructure that is in place anyway.

 

[Steve M]

It's a shame that things get dismissed, but there is a process and this seems like the best first bet. The next will be to get someone famous to spout about it. Then we can do the email thing

why cant the life boat and the helicopter rescue and mountainn doo as the french and most of the world does, come and visit you in hospital to see how you are and to drop the bill off !!

It would be unprofessional of me to comment on this further, but just think about the crew of a lifeboat who went out at 9pm to a threatened suicide only to be recalled two hours later when the guy was found in the pub ... and other stories!

 

[santaman2000]

...i have just come back from the gov web site after my vote for them, is it me or do some of these petitions seam like a complete waste of time, i cant see how they make a difference, where as say 10,000 people sending an email or letter each to all of the polititions would seam a more concreted effort...

If you agree with the position stated in the petition why not do both? Sign the petition AND send an individual e-mail (and a snail mail as well)

 

[hedgerowpete]

It's a shame that things get dismissed, but there is a process and this seems like the best first bet. The next will be to get someone famous to spout about it. Then we can do the email thing



It would be unprofessional of me to comment on this further, but just think about the crew of a lifeboat who went out at 9pm to a threatened suicide only to be recalled two hours later when the guy was found in the pub ... and other stories!

personaly only dealt with the mountain resue a couple of social times the life boats i know well and i do belive they should be allowed to charge the full rescue fee to cover costs, maybe if they did some of the idiots that they have to rescue will get training and better safety supplies and insurence. i know off and have seen to many fools set to sea with there only emergancy back up of a mobile and the idea that the life boat will wipe there back sides.

and as for the other sencible points people have made, will i send a snail mail or a email to all the polititions in the subject of heli fuel vat , the answer is no, it is not worth the time or the stamp to try and communicate any thing with a politition on this or many other subjects so no i wont be taking it any further.

charity apathic hedgerow pete