VAT boost for United season-ticket holders

Manchester United’s 57,000 season ticket holders will benefit from the British government's decision to reduce VAT to 15%.

United had already pledged to pass on any reduction to supporters following the cut in duty from 17.5%.

The saving applied immediately to tickets purchased on a match-by-match basis but the Red Devils were experiencing some difficulty in getting HM Revenue & Customs to outline what approach to take with supporters who purchased season tickets at the full VAT rate.

That position has now been clarified, with United cleared to hand back the appropriate percentage of each season ticket on the basis of only six of their 19 Premier League home games taking place before the December 1 deadline.

While the actual saving would only be approximately 80p on a £40 (€47) ticket, the overall money being paid back will be well in excess of £500,000 (€584,463).

United have already been forced to reprint a number of tickets for forthcoming games, including tonight’s Carling Cup tie with Blackburn, to take into account the change in prices.