Charities are entitled to claim relief from VAT when they construct new buildings. This can be a valuable benefit for charities, which are generally not able to recover VAT, but they and the builders undertaking the work for them must take care to ensure that they do qualify for the relief. Both the charity and the builder are at risk of receiving assessments from HMRC for the full value of VAT on the project, unless the work falls fully within the criteria for the relief.
Source: menzies.co.uk
