Landmark's announcement at the start of January that they would no longer be charging VAT on their lodgement fees for domestic and non-domestic EPCs is causing widespread confusion throughout the industry.  For assessors not registered for VAT this represents a saving of 33p for domestic lodgements and £2.36 for non-domestics. 

But what at first seemed like a straighforward annuncement has in fact turned out to be anything but.  Some confusion has been caused by their statement that this new charging regime would be starting from 1st December 2013 which has caused assessors to ask whether they will be getting refunds for any lodgements made during that period.

More confusion is being caused by their reasoning which is "the Lodgement Fee as set out in the regulations is a Statutory Fee and is not subject to VAT. i.e. it falls outside the scope of the tax".  This has caused assessors to question whether the VAT should have been levied in the first place.  This could mean that assessors are due refunds for the VAt element on their lodgements dating back to 2007.

It will be interesting to see what transpires over the coming weeks.