Sunak urged to scrap VAT rise on concert tickets
The music industry is urging chancellor Rishi Sunak to abandon a VAT hike on concert and live event tickets that is due to kick in on 1 April.
The 7.5% hike would see the tax return to its pre-pandemic level of 20%, a move that would be “hugely damaging” to the industry, trade body UK Music warns.
UK Music chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has written to the chancellor to highlight the impact the VAT rate hike on gig tickets could have on millions of music fans and the music industry.
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Njoku-Goodwin said: “The planned hike in VAT could not come at a worse time for millions of music fans and the live music industry, which was shut down for almost two years due to the pandemic.
“We saw during those grim periods of lockdown just how important music was to people’s mental health and how it helps us get through some really tough times.”
VAT is currently charged at 12.5% on tickets for live events, but went down to 5% at the height of the pandemic.
The UK already has one of the highest rates of tax for hospitality in Europe. In France and Spain, the VAT rate is set at 10%. It is just 7% in Germany and 6% in Belgium.
Njoku-Goodwin added: “Pushing up VAT to 20% would be hugely damaging for the music industry and leave music fans facing a cost of gigging crisis.
“The rise would come at a time when we are rebuilding post-pandemic, with hundreds of concerts planned over the next few months."
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UK Music is calling for other measures to support the industry, including extending the current 50% discount on business rates for music venues, and more funding to help British performers touring the EU to navigate extra costs and post-Brexit red tape.
Pre-pandemic, the UK music industry contributed £5.8bn ($7.6bn) to the UK economy and supported almost 200,000 jobs, according to the latest figures from UK Music.
