A Merseyside tech company will this week launch a high-profile campaign to abolish VAT on all safety products and services that go into UK homes.

The Government is being urged to scrap the 20% tax on a range of products includingfire alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, gas safety checks, fire doors and fire extinguishers.

A launch event will take place in Parliament this Wednesday morning (January 31) including an online petition to have the issue debated in Parliament - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/209347

Liverpool-based safety tech company Gas Tag has developed the campaign which is supported by North West MPs Mike Amesbury and Louise Ellman as well as former England footballers Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher and TV presenter Paddy McGuinness.

Louise Ellman, the MP for Liverpool Riverside, said:

“I support the campaign to cut VAT on safety products. These are potentially life-saving products and they should be affordable.”

Mike Amesbury, MP for Weaver Vale & Member of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, said:

“Safety is rightly at the top of the political agenda. It is ridiculous that tax is charged on safety products and services. Removing the VAT will make them more affordable and save more lives. It’s the right thing to do.”

Gas Tag’s Finance Director, George Dutton, said:

“At a time when safety is in the spotlight, raising money in taxation from making homes safer is shameful and not a reflection of the compassionate society in which we live.”

Several leading housing associations are also backing the campaign. The VAT raised annually on safety products and inspections across the
social housing sector is in excess of £200million.

The Axe Safety Tax campaign will be officially launched at a roundtable discussion in the House of Commons this Wednesday morning, attended by MPs, Chief Executives of Housing Associations along with Mike Cunningham, Deputy Director, VAT & Excise.

Gas Tag recently received a multi-million pound investment from Wilmslow-based private equity house Waterland UK which valued the company at over £20million.