Blind Paralympian wants VAT cut for tandem bikes

A Paralympic champion is campaigning for tandem bicycles to be available VAT-free to visually impaired cyclists.

Lizzi Jordan, who is blind, has written to the chancellor calling for two-person bikes to qualify for an exemption to the 20% tax for adaptive bicycles.

The cyclist, from Guildford, told the BBC: "I just think it's a total injustice to visually impaired people that it's come down to a disability lottery as to who can benefit from VAT exemption."

The Treasury said it wanted to "ensure the tax system is fair for blind and visually impaired people" and support was "already available" for income tax and through "a range of VAT reliefs".

Adaptive cycles such as hand bikes and tricycles are currently VAT-exempt but non-adapted tandem bicycles are not.

In the letter, Jordan, 28, wrote that for blind people, tandems were "not a leisure luxury but an essential adaptation that enables safe cycling".

The Paralympic gold-medallist said visually impaired cyclists were "discriminated against by current legislation".

She wrote: "VAT exemption should be applicable to all disabled individuals because every disabled person in this country should have the right to ride a bicycle."

Jordan told the BBC the tandem was her "only pathway to physical exercise, to getting out and about".

According to the athlete, a "half-decent tandem would probably cost around £1,500", including the tax.

Reducing the cost would be "an incentive for those that hadn't even considered buying a tandem in the first place", Jordan said.

She added: "We spend a lot of our life being physically guided by someone at quite a slow pace, being quite hesitant, worrying what's ahead of us.

"But on a tandem, I just feel totally free."

British Cycling, which is supporting Jordan's campaign, estimates the rule change would cost the government about £27,000 per year.

Tracy Power, managing director of the British Cycling Foundation, said visually impaired people had to pay more to experience the physical, mental and social benefits of cycling and the campaign was about making the bikes "more accessible".

Chancellor John Healey is due to deliver his first Budget on 28 October.

The Treasury said it did not comment "on speculation or proposals" ahead of fiscal events.

Jordan won a gold medal in her Paralympics velodrome debut at Paris 2024, alongside pilot Danni Khan.

The six-time para-cycling world champion also took home a bronze medal for England, with pilot Sylvia Misztal, at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

After contracting severe E. coli aged 19, Jordan spent eight weeks in a coma, had to re-learn how to walk and lost her sight.

She went on to run the London Marathon then attended a talent identification day for British Cycling in 2020 and began training as an athlete.

The Paralympian was appointed an MBE for services to cycling in 2025.

"It's incredible what tandem cycling has brought to me," Jordan said.

"I think I've gained more since losing my sight than I ever even had when I had my sight."

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