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A PROPOSAL to add VAT to the cost of funerals has been condemned as ‘obscene’ by Kintyre funeral director Alasdair Blair.
‘It is just a proposal that has come out of Europe and every single country has to agree,’ said Mr Blair, ‘before it was adopted.’
‘If this went ahead it would add between £500 and £600 to the cost of a funeral and would cause a great deal of hardship to poorer families; the DHSS does give a benefit payment towards funerals but this only covers a certain amount. If VAT were added it would mean an intolerable financial imposition upon some families,’ he added.
Mr Blair has long been a vociferous campaigner against the high levels of fees charged for burials and cremations by Argyll and Bute Council and sees any attempt to start taxing funerals in a similar light.
‘The British government seems to bend over backwards to adopt all the European laws and other countries don’t seem to bother if they disagree,’ he said.
David Martin, the longest serving MEP in Scotland has come out strongly against the EC proposal to remove the VAT-free status from the cost of funerals and cremations.
He said: ‘It would be seen as tantamount to a tax on death; the imposition of the 17.5 per cent rate would see a dramatic increase in the cost of funerals.’ Mr Martin believes that adding VAT would force up the cost of an average funeral by £570 and add nearly £350 to the cost of a cremation.
He is writing to Commissioner László Kovács, the Commissioner responsible for the Taxation and Customs Union and urging him to think again.
Mr Blair added: ‘The introduction of VAT would not just add to the cost of funerals.
‘It would mean my business would have to be VAT registered, it would mean more paperwork and new systems of working.’
Mr Blair hopes people will lobby members of the European, Westminster and Scottish parliaments to make sure Britain doesn’t sign up to the idea of taxing funerals.
