Stairlift VAT Exemption Calculator: How Much You Save

Last updated: 29 October 2026 · Independent UK guidance. Free to cite with attribution.

If you are chronically sick or disabled, or you are buying for someone who is, a stairlift can be supplied without VAT. This is called VAT relief or zero-rating, and it means eligible buyers pay roughly 17% less than the standard price. Use the calculator below to estimate your saving, then read who qualifies and how to claim.

Who qualifies for VAT exemption?

You can buy a stairlift without VAT if you’re ‘chronically sick or disabled’ and the stairlift is for your personal or domestic use. The same applies if you’re buying it for someone who meets that description.

HMRC defines chronically sick or disabled as having a physical or mental impairment with a long-term and substantial adverse effect on your ability to carry out everyday activities. It also covers a condition treated as chronic sickness (such as diabetes), or a terminal illness.

You don’t need to be registered disabled or receiving any particular benefit (GOV.UK: VAT relief for disabled people; HMRC Notice 701/7).

Being elderly isn’t enough on its own for zero-rating: someone who is not chronically sick or disabled doesn’t qualify. People aged 60 or over can still get the reduced 5% rate on a stairlift supplied and installed in their own home. Nor does the relief apply to a stairlift bought for general use, such as in a workplace or a building open to the public.

How to claim the relief

You do not reclaim the VAT from HMRC yourself. Instead, the supplier zero-rates the sale at the point of purchase once you sign a simple eligibility declaration confirming your name, address and the nature of your condition. Reputable UK stairlift suppliers provide this form as a matter of course. Keep a copy for your records.

What HMRC’s VAT notice actually says

The rules are in HMRC’s VAT Notice 701/7, and three parts of it matter for stairlifts.

Section 6.5 allows the services needed to install, repair or maintain a lift to be zero-rated when they are supplied to a disabled person and the lift helps them move between floors of their private home. Section 6.8 then allows goods supplied with those services to be zero-rated too. In practice this is why a stairlift bought and fitted by a supplier for an eligible person carries no VAT. Section 4.3 separately zero-rates a stair lift or chair lift designed for use with a wheelchair.

Section 9 covers people aged 60 or over. It lists stair lifts among the mobility aids that get the reduced 5% rate, but only when the same business both supplies and installs the lift in the person’s own home, or a home they share with friends or relatives. It does not apply in a residential or care home, and repairs after installation do not qualify for the 5% rate.

For either relief, the supplier should ask for a written declaration, kept separate from the order form or invoice (section 3.6 for the zero rate, section 9.3 for the 5% rate). A relative or other responsible person can sign if the user cannot.

Repairs, servicing and buying without fitting

Repair and maintenance of a lift for a disabled person can also be zero-rated under section 6.5, so ask your servicing company to apply it if the user qualifies. The over-60 reduced rate does not cover repairs.

If you buy a stairlift without the seller installing it, for example a second-hand lift sold privately, the installation-based reliefs may not apply. Ask the installer how they will treat the VAT before you commit.

FAQ

How much VAT do you save on a stairlift?

Eligible buyers pay no VAT, which is the standard 20% rate removed from the net price. In practice that works out to roughly 17% off a VAT-inclusive quote. On a £1,995 straight stairlift, the median advertised price, the saving is about £333.

Do I qualify for VAT exemption just because I am elderly?

Not for the full relief. Zero-rating needs the person to be chronically sick or disabled as defined by HMRC. But if the person is aged 60 or over, a stairlift supplied and installed in their own home qualifies for the reduced 5% VAT rate even without a disability. The installer has to both supply and fit it, and the reduced rate does not apply in a care or residential home (HMRC VAT Notice 701/7, section 9).

Do I need to be registered disabled?

No. You do not need to be registered disabled or to receive any specific benefit. You sign a short eligibility declaration provided by the supplier.

How to Cite This Page

Citation: Stairlift Guru, “Stairlift VAT Exemption Calculator”, stairliftguru.co.uk, updated June 2026.

This tool gives general information, not tax advice. Eligibility figures follow HMRC guidance. Free to cite with a link back to this page.