VRDP27100 - Medical and surgical supplies: is the recipient ‘disabled’?

VRDP04100 explains how the term ‘disabled’ is defined. Many people who purchase medical or surgical appliances, or have them fitted in a hospital, will not be ‘disabled’. People who are not ‘disabled’ include those who:

• have been injured in a car accident and need plates or pins inserted into their legs; or
• are supplied with a collar for a few weeks to overcome ‘whiplash’ injuries.

However, a person suffering from a kidney problem which necessitates renal dialysis would be ‘chronically sick’, and so a renal haemodialysis unit would be eligible for zero-rating if it was supplied for personal domestic use.