Short answer: if the chair is for someone with a long-term illness or disability, for their own use at home, it can be sold at 0% VAT. You fill in a short declaration, no doctor's letter is needed, and the saving comes off the price at the till. Here is the detail.
What the relief is
HMRC allows certain goods designed for people with a disability to be sold without VAT when they are bought for the personal or domestic use of someone who is chronically sick or disabled. A lift and rise recliner, which uses a motor to tilt the whole chair forward and help you to your feet, is one of those goods. An ordinary recliner is not, however comfortable, because it is not designed to help you stand.
Who qualifies
The person who will use the chair needs to have a physical or mental impairment with a long-term and substantial effect on everyday activities, or a condition the medical profession treats as a chronic sickness. Arthritis, COPD, heart conditions, Parkinson's, MS, the after-effects of a stroke and many others count. Being elderly or frail on its own does not, strictly, unless there is a condition behind it, and most people in their eighties buying a riser recliner do have one.
Who can buy it
The chair can be bought by the person themselves, or by a family member, carer or friend on their behalf, as long as it is for that person's own use at home. A care home or a business buying chairs for residents or customers cannot use this relief.
What you have to do
Sign a short eligibility declaration when you order. It asks for the user's name, address and the condition, and confirms the chair is for their personal use. That is all. We keep it on file for HMRC; you do not need a letter from a GP and nobody checks up on you. It is a self-declaration and it is your responsibility to be truthful on it, which is why we explain the rule rather than nudge people through it.
What it saves
VAT is 20%, so a chair at a VAT-inclusive price is a sixth cheaper with the relief. On a good dual-motor riser recliner that is a meaningful sum, and it also applies to the delivery and to certain accessories bought with the chair.
Choosing the chair
Single motor moves the back and footrest together; dual motor moves them independently, which matters if you sleep in the chair or need your legs raised without lying back. Check the seat height and depth against the person, not against a brochure; a chair that is too deep is harder to get out of, motor or not. Come and try them: we have several on the floor in Clydebank and they are the one product where sitting in it for ten minutes tells you more than any spec sheet.
See the lift and rise chairs we stock and our VAT relief page for the declaration. Delivery is by our own two-man team, into the room, set up and the packaging taken away.
Paul James Home, Co-op Department Store, Clydebank. Monday to Saturday 9 to 5. 0141 266 0400.