Mum handed £2,400 tax bill for cancer drugs because of post-Brexit VAT changes

A terminally ill mum has been handed a £2,400 tax bill for her cancer medication because of post-Brexit VAT rules.

Gemma Lee, 41, has been diagnosed with stage four brain cancer and pays £5,000 a month for drugs that she can’t get in the UK or the NHS.

But the mum-of-two says she has been charged an extra £2,432 on top of this due to changes in how VAT is charged following Brexit.

Gemma started taking ONC201, a German trial drug, after doctors said she only had a year to live. She says the drug has made a "massive difference" to her life.

"I just got this letter, opened it and gasped,” she told Teesside Live.

"You are fighting for your life and also fighting red tape and taxes. Since I've been taking them, I've remained stable which has been amazing. That wasn't supposed to happen to me."

Gemma previously endured a gruelling 30 rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy – the maximum doses a person can have – but it made no difference to the size of her tumour.

"It was six weeks solid, every single day," said Gemma, who is being treated privately.

"it took a massive toll on my body. At the end of it, we got a scan saying it hadn't made any difference. It was soul-destroying.

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"I was thinking 'at least I'm getting rid of it' then the floor was pulled from under me.

“We as a family, from that day, just would not accept that was it and we started looking for alternatives."

A Go Fund Me campaign was set up to raise money for the treatment and the response from well-wishers has been incredible.

Gemma was so ill, she couldn't travel to Germany to arrange for the treatment herself.

Her husband Graeme, who is manager of Hartlepool United, had to make the 24-round trip alone.

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“I'm just looking to get more time,” she said.

“I want to scream it from the rooftops, I see people in the waiting room, other people like me who are going through what I'm going through, and I want to say 'there are other things out there'.

"You have to really look hard, they do cost a lot of money – and that's the problem. The drug is at second-stage trials, it is available in France.

"It will eventually, I'm sure, be recognised here and be used but it might be just too late. Until that day, it costs £5,000 a month.

"And on top of that, we get a bill for shipping.

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"The tumour I have is more common in children. That makes me even more angry, that this drug is going to children mainly and they're charging these amounts of tax."

Prescribed drugs, by a registered pharmacist, are VAT-free in the UK. But VAT relief is not available on imports.

An HMRC spokesperson said: "We are sorry to hear of the customer's circumstances.

"For supplies from the EU, UK import VAT is now chargeable, rather than EU VAT from the supplier, and EU suppliers should have adjusted their charges to reflect that position. There is no general VAT relief for drugs sold in the UK.”

They added: “ The recent increase in costs mentioned for 2022 are not down to any changes in VAT or customs duties, as these have not changed since EU exit.”

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