Olympics to pay VAT on £2.4bn building costs

The government has said that it is committed to the 2012 Olympics despite an unexpected VAT bill on the £2.4bn building costs. According to European Union laws the Treasury cannot be seen to support the organisers.

Chancellor Gordon Brown told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is our job as a government, having made a commitment to have the Olympics in London, to make sure that the buildings are done in time and to do it to the best of our ability."

The Treasury is now in discussions with the Olympic Delivery Authority over the VAT bill.

He said in the interview that there was "not an issue about the overall bill" for tax payers as "it is money transferred from the Exchequer or to the Exchequer.”

The organisers had presumed VAT would not have to be paid when costs were estimated by the International Olympic Committee in 2004.

Brown told the BBC: "When we did the original application, there was one form of company organisation that might not have required VAT. Now that we have looked at the thing in detail, there may be another form of company organisation for the Olympic deal."