Plea to axe VAT on sun cream to save some of the 2,300 killed by skin cancer every year
- Pleas have been made for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to drop VAT on suncream
- Read more: Ultimate guide to sun creams including one brand that FAILED tests
Costly VAT charges on sunscreen must be scrapped to help save lives from deadly skin cancer, campaigners have urged.
Cancer charities, MPs and skin experts last night called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to remove the 20 per cent tax – which was imposed as a result of EU legislation.
Too much UV radiation from the sun is a leading cause of skin cancer, which leads to 2,300 avoidable deaths in the UK each year.
But research by charity Melanoma Focus reveals half of UK adults believe sunscreen – which dramatically lowers the risk of getting the disease – is too expensive, with one in ten not wearing sun protection due to the cost.
Professor Mabs Chowdhury, president of the British Association of Dermatologists, told the MoS: ‘Sunscreen is one of the important tools at our disposal against skin cancer. Removing VAT from all high-protection sunscreen could really make a difference.’
Cancer charities, MPs and skin experts last night called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to remove the 20 per cent tax on suncream (file image)
Which? tested 19 popular suncreams, with one being identified as a ‘don’t buy’ because it failed safety protection tests
Sunscreen is classified in the UK as a ‘cosmetic’ product, meaning it carries a 20 per cent tax that adds around £1.50 to the cost of a bottle.
Dermatologists say sunscreen should be free to protect all
Leading dermatologists who fear that deprived families could miss out on protection have said sunscreen should be made free.
Professor Mabs Chowdhury, president of the British Association of Dermatologists, told The Guardian it was ‘concerning’ that people might not be buying suncream as a result of increasing prices.
A survey by Melanoma Focus found that 50 per cent think sunblock is too expensive – and 10 per cent don’t use it because of the cost.
Julian Peace, deputy chair at the Primary Care Dermatology Society, said ideally the protective cream would be given out for free.
He added: ‘The highest piority would be organising a provision for children… There is a voucher scheme available for vitamin D supplements – under the ‘healthy start’ scheme – and this may be a system by which supplies of sunscreen could be allocated to those most in need.’
In 2021 Tesco absorbed the cost of VAT on sunscreen, so far saving customers more than £1 million.
Last month Superdrug also cut the price of its Solait suncare range by 20 per cent until the end of the year.
But MPs want the Government to issue a national exemption of VAT on sunscreen to bring the UK in line with Australia and the US – where sunscreen is classed as an essential product and free from the tax.
Tory MP and former Brexit Minister David Jones said: ‘The case for protecting people’s health is irrefutable. Making sun cream cheaper would encourage more people to use it and thus protect more of the population from skin cancer.
‘Before Brexit, removing VAT from any product was impossible because Brussels set VAT rules.
‘Post-Brexit, we can – and should – take this important, sensible step.’
He compared the call to the successful removal of VAT from women’s sanitary products two years ago – a post-Brexit abolition that was widely welcomed.
Tory MP Maggie Throup, who has had treatment for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, said: ‘I would appeal to Ministers to take VAT off sun cream products.
‘The Treasury will argue that it will lose much-needed revenue if VAT is removed.
‘However, we will save money if fewer people need to have NHS treatment for preventable skin cancers in the first place.’
A Treasury spokesman said: ‘High-factor sunscreen is on the NHS prescription list for certain conditions and is already provided VAT free when dispensed by a pharmacist.’
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