vat

[cariad16]

Please could someone tell what items have vat and items that don't have vat

[scotgal]

The answer to this would and does fill an encyclopaedia so it might be easier to ask if a specific item attracts vat

[delboy3]

Loosely, anything considered a "luxury" is VATable; anything considered to be essential for living (e.g. food, clothing) is not. However, there are many exceptions and grey areas... Check out www.hmrc.gov.uk.

[buildersmate]

More specifically there is a great long list of rates here.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/rates-goods.htm
Please appreciate the difference between goods that are 'Exempt' and goods that are 'zero-rated'. Exempt means there is no VAT chargeable at all on the goods or service. Zero-rated means there is, the rate just happens to be 0% just now.

[Welsh Git]

Just to correct dedboy : Clothing DOES have standard rate VAT (currently 17.5%) BUT childrens clothes do NOT.

[Misty77]

Basically most goods and services have VAT on them, although it's not straightforward. With things like food there are a lot of grey areas - items such as fish, meat, vegetables etc have no VAT on them because they're considered necessities. Luxury food such as cream cakes and (some) biscuits, crisps etc have 17.5% VAT on them. It's a bit complicated excatly what attracts VAT and why.