Government urged to can VAT on IT repairs

Government is barking up the wrong tree with its current green IT strategy, according to Comtek

Comtek claims current tax set-up penalises businesses who repair rather than replace an IT device

A channel firm has launched a petition urging the government to scrap VAT on ICT hardware repairs.

Repairs firm Comtek argues the government’s green IT strategy is flawed by solely supporting investment in new ‘eco-friendly’ technologies.

Instead, the government should be providing tax incentives for firms who take a “greener” approach to the maintenance of IT hardware such as routers, switches and telecoms products.

Once live, the petition - which is being launched ahead of Wednesday’s pre-Election budget - can be found here.

Comtek claimed the benefits obtained from the lower daily energy consumption of newer technologies are wiped out by the much larger carbon footprints involved in their manufacture.

However, the current tax set-up penalises businesses who seek to repair rather than replace an IT device, argued Comtek.

Comtek chief executive Askar Sheiban said: “The environmental reasons for replacing IT equipment simply do not make sense, since the massive energy consumption does not come from daily operational use, but from the manufacturing processes involved in producing the equipment.

“Businesses are not hearing this message, so we are calling on the Government to take action and recognise that sustainable IT involves using products for as long as possible – not needlessly turfing out equipment to add to an ever-growing mountain of e-waste.”