VPROTEQUIP4040 - Protective equipment: Pedal cycle helmets: Which pedal cycle helmets are zero-rated?

Prior to the 2018 Taxation and Cross Border Trade Act the legistation only allowed zero-rating for pedal cycle helmets which were manufactured to, and bore a mark of conformity with, standards laid down in the EC Personal Protective Equipment Directive (93/68/EEC) as amended (the PPE Directive).

The harmonised European standard which satisfied the provisions of the PPE Directive was EN 1078:1997 which the British Standards Institution adopted as BS EN 1078:2012. Helmets manufactured to this standard showed the European Community ‘CE’ mark. However, while EN 1078:2012 also covered protective helmets for users of skateboards and roller skates, zero-rating only applies to those helmets which were designed and ‘held out for sale’ as pedal cycle helmets.

Some cycle helmets would have been manufactured to a different specification to the one laid down in the harmonised European Standard but would still satisfy the requirements of the PPE Directive. Examples include the American standards Snell B95 and ASTM F1447 and the Australian standard AS 2063. These helmets also carry the ‘CE’ mark.

The 2018 Taxation Cross Border Trade Act amended the UK VAT legislation to allow zero rating for pedal cycle helmets which are manufactured to standards which satisfy the requirements of regulation 8(2) of the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002 and bear the mark of conformity required by that regulation.