Previous to 2013, local police and fire services were not permitted to pay VAT but the creation of national bodies ended this exemption.

Police and fire services in Scotland used to be controlled by local council which can claim back VAT but the new national forces are controlled by the Scottish government, which cannot.

The Scottish government has previously urged Westminster to consider a reintroduction of the VAT exemption, but have had no success.

A spokesperson for HMRC said: ' In 2012 the Scottish Government made Scotland’s police and fire services national rather than regional bodies.

The UK government advised the Scottish government at the time that this change would take them out of the scope of the VAT refunds as they are now funded differently to other police and fire services in Great Britain.'

In October last year, the Scottish Police Authority heard that Police Scotland was facing a £25m budget overspend by the end of the financial year. Two months later, then Finance Minister John Swinney announced an extra £55m in funding for Police Scotland in his draft budget.

In his letter dated 2 June, chief constable Gormley, responded to a question posed by Mr McDonald and said: ‘you ask how much VAT Police Scotland is unable to reclaim, or has paid. Since Police Scotland was formed in April 2013 we have paid £76.5M in VAT and we remain the only police organisation in the United Kingdom to pay VAT. The evidence session at the Committee understandably generated interest of the Scottish Police Authority and Scottish Government.

‘Consequently I consider it appropriate to share my response to you with the Chairman of the Scottish Police Authority and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice.’

The VAT liability was highlighted in the 2014/15 audit report into the Scottish Police Authority, where Audit Scotland, the regulatory public sector auditor, stated that ‘SPA faces significant constraints and cost pressures on its future budgets. These include: increased national insurance contributions and VAT liability’.

When the new police structure was set up in 2013, the Scottish government pledged to make a significant contribution to the transition and reform costs amounting to £67.5m a year.

The Audit Scotland report stated: ‘The Scottish government provided the reform budget to cover costs such as VAT liability, voluntary severance/early retirement costs and ICT developments. The accounts state that expenditure on these areas accounted for £46.5m.

‘It is not clear what the remaining £21 million was spent on,’ the report concluded.

The reform funding to cover VAT liability ran out on 31 March 2016.