For many years, representatives from the voluntary and community sector have complained that VAT is a problem for them. Irrecoverable VAT which means the playing field isn't level.
The Charities Tax Reform Group, Sue Ryder Care and many others have called for Section 33 - which allows local authorities to reclaim VAT - to be extended to the third sector. Successive governments have shrugged. But why?
Imagine you have a stool with one leg longer than the others. You want to level things up. Would you add an extension to one of the shorter legs?
Or would you cut down the longer leg? So why isn't anyone calling for Section 33 to be abolished?