Audit and Risk Com­mit­tee — Paper 3

19 April 2024

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For decision

Title: Intern­al Audit VAT review

Cov­er paper pre­pared by: Louise Allen, Head of Fin­ance and Cor­por­ate Operations

Annex pre­pared by: Veron­ica Don­nelly, Part­ner, Azets; Alan Glen, Dir­ect­or of VAT, Azets

Pur­pose

This paper presents Azets’ review of the VAT status of activ­it­ies with­in the Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme, and the poten­tial need for the Park Author­ity to register for VAT.

Recom­mend­a­tions

The Audit and Risk Com­mit­tee is asked to:

a) Note the risks iden­ti­fied in the report; and b) Con­sider the advice provided by Azets.

Exec­ut­ive summary

1. Based on Azets’ review of the inform­a­tion provided by the Park Author­ity it does not appear that the Author­ity is mak­ing any tax­able sup­plies as a res­ult of the Cairngorms 2030 Pro­gramme. How­ever, poten­tial VAT risks may arise as the work pro­gresses. VAT risks are more likely to appear at the point of agree­ments being draf­ted or dif­fi­culties arising in the pro­jects that need to be resolved.

2. The find­ings in the report are those risks that Azets believe the Park Author­ity may need to con­sider as the pro­jects progress.

Con­clu­sions

1. Azets recom­mend that a ​‘check­list’ that details poten­tial VAT risks is draf­ted, and that each pro­ject agree­ment CNPA enters into is reviewed against the check­list before the agree­ment is signed, to ensure the VAT risks are con­sidered. Also, the check­list should be used to review any mater­i­al changes to agree­ments or structures.

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A quo­ta­tion of £5,280 (includ­ing VAT) has been provided for this work. We are con­sid­er­ing this engagement.

1. There is also the poten­tial to engage Azets to work with our teams, explain­ing to non-fin­ance staff the key issues that need to be con­sidered from a VAT perspective.

Louise Allen louiseallen@​cairngorms.​co.​uk