Tessa is celebrating the Treasury’s change of heart on the proposed ‘caravan tax’, which would have had a catastrophic effect on local caravan park owners and distributors.
The announcement to abandon the 20% VAT in favour of a 5% tax with a delayed start of April 2013 was made on Monday night. 
This year’s Budget saw the announcement of a new tax on static caravans – due to start in October. This prompted a series of meetings, starting with Tessa’s surgeries in Burnham on Sea and Brean, where Tessa listened to local employers who explained how the new tax would devastate their businesses. Vocal opposition from Tessa in Parliament was followed by several meetings with Ministers. Then on 9th May, 17 local holiday park owners from across Tessa’s patch travelled to Westminster to explain to David Gauke, the Treasury Minister, face to face exactly how HM Revenue & Customs had got their figures wrong. The Somerset group were in fact the only people who were allowed to meet the Minister.
After a very informative exchange of views, Tessa then spoke to David Gauke twice more during the last two weeks, and presented a petition in Parliament with several other MPs whose constituencies would be affected.
Tessa said “I am absolutely delighted that the Minister took the views of my local businesspeople on board and changed his plans. This removes the threat to caravan park owners, distributors and ultimately to all our leisure and tourism related businesses in Somerset, as 36,000 jobs in Somerset depend on our loyal UK holidaymakers.”