| |
VAT rate cut |
| |
ksattic (16:13 24/11/2008)
monkeyson2 (17:06 24/11/2008)
tribbles (17:58 24/11/2008)
filecore (18:08 24/11/2008)
VincceH (18:41 24/11/2008)
VincceH (11:34 25/11/2008)
SimonC (11:40 25/11/2008)
Loris (18:31 25/11/2008)
filecore (20:00 25/11/2008)
Stoppers (20:56 25/11/2008)
|
| |
|
Simon Wilson |
Message #108840, posted by ksattic at 16:13, 24/11/2008 |
 Finally, an avatar!
Posts: 1291
|
I read on BBC News that VAT is going to be cut temporarily from 17.5 to 15% starting next Monday:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7745340.stm
Chancellor Alistair Darling has cut VAT from 17.5% to 15% for 13 months in his pre-Budget report in a bid to get consumers spending again. So, how does that help consumers? In the UK, tax is already added onto prices in shops. A lot of items are sold at certain price points, i.e. 9.99. With 17.5% VAT, something costing 8.50 would be 9.99. Now the same item would cost 9.78. I can't see shops changing all prices like that.
So, is this to help consumers or really just retail outlets?
BTW, the duty on petrol, alcohol and tobacco will be increased to offset the change in VAT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7746241.stm
[Edited by ksattic at 16:20, 24/11/2008] |
| |
 [ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Phil Mellor |
Message #108842, posted by monkeyson2 at 17:06, 24/11/2008, in reply to message #108840 |
 Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler
Posts: 12380
|
Interesting - could be the Y2K bug all over again. I wonder how many billing systems have VAT encoded as a constant? Hurrah, the IT consulting industry is saved! |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jason Tribbeck |
Message #108843, posted by tribbles at 17:58, 24/11/2008, in reply to message #108842 |
 Captain Helix
Posts: 929
|
Yes, but we did have 15% VAT a while back. I remember there was confusion when it was increased - 15% was easier to calculate than 17.5%. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jason Togneri |
Message #108845, posted by filecore at 18:08, 24/11/2008, in reply to message #108843 |
Posts: 3868
|
Count yourself lucky - it's 22% where I live. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #108848, posted by VincceH at 18:41, 24/11/2008, in reply to message #108840 |
 Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
So, how does that help consumers? In the UK, tax is already added onto prices in shops. A lot of items are sold at certain price points, i.e. 9.99. With 17.5% VAT, something costing 8.50 would be 9.99. Now the same item would cost 9.78. I can't see shops changing all prices like that. This is exactly what I've been saying since it was first rumoured. On items with a larger price tag I can see it happening, and to keep it ending .99 you might see round-pound drops, which in some cases will pass on slightly less than the VAT reduction and in some cases slightly more, but on smaller items it's unlikely.
I'd wager that anything costing less than, I dunno, £30 will not change in price, and then for £30 to £80 you might see drops of £1, £80 to £120 by £2, and so on.
However, another important point is that in order to pass this VAT reduction on, many retailers will have to pay their staff to go around the store re-pricing items, and they'll also need to get any posters and leaflets advertising particular items at now-changed prices re-printed, and so on.
So, is this to help consumers or really just retail outlets? Well, luckily, I buy a lot of the stuff I consume at Makro out of convenience - and their prices are quoted net. Those items will be cheaper for me. Items bought for the business obviously won't be, though, since I reclaim the VAT on those.
BTW, the duty on petrol, alcohol and tobacco will be increased to offset the change in VAT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7746241.stm Yes. And before I knew that I was suggesting that fuel is the most likely place that most people will see a saving. Oh well.  |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #108856, posted by VincceH at 11:34, 25/11/2008, in reply to message #108840 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
BTW, the duty on petrol, alcohol and tobacco will be increased to offset the change in VAT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7746241.stm For many businesses, such as my biggest client, a courier company, that isn't an offset, it's a 2p per litre price rise.
They use a lot of subbies - owner drivers. That's a 2p per litre price rise for those of them who are VAT registered as well, and it'll hurt them far more than it will my client. It basically equates to a reduction in their earnings. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Simon Challands |
Message #108857, posted by SimonC at 11:40, 25/11/2008, in reply to message #108856 |
 Right on, Commander!
Posts: 398
|
More irresponsible crap from an idiotic and utterly clueless government who's main aim is to woo guillable voters, even if that means totally shafting the country in the process. I've not heard one single proposal designed to get out of the idiotic "spend even if it means getting up to your eyeballs in debt" attitude that got the economy into this mess; rather, they want to keep that going. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Tony Haines |
Message #108864, posted by Loris at 18:31, 25/11/2008, in reply to message #108840 |
 Ha ha, me mine, mwahahahaha
Posts: 1025
|
I don't think its about the cost of low-priced things. Penny sweets will remain priced at 1p etc. You're going to be buying most of that sh!t anyway. If you're thinking about buying something big like a car though, it might just prompt you to buy now rather than wait until later.
It seems to me that trying to control the economy is like being in charge of a baroque machine - where there are only a few controls, each of which only changes what you're interested in indirectly, and also affects several other things. And the readouts are imprecise, conflate several importantly different things together and have a large lag. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jason Togneri |
Message #108865, posted by filecore at 20:00, 25/11/2008, in reply to message #108864 |
Posts: 3868
|
Penny sweets will remain priced at 1p etc. That's rich, I haven't seen a "penny" sweet in years that cost less than 5p. I still remember making our own penny mixes from the stand in our local sweet shop (now an Indian restaraunt, last time I forced myself to travel through the pit of hell of a town I grew up in); all of the sweets just in their boxes in a rack, you filled the bag up with what you wanted and told the man how much it came to. Those days are looooooooong gone. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Simon Willcocks |
Message #108866, posted by Stoppers at 20:56, 25/11/2008, in reply to message #108864 |
Member
Posts: 302
|
I don't think its about the cost of low-priced things. The shopkeepers selling the low-priced things themselves have a little more money to spend.
[Edited by Stoppers at 22:10, 25/11/2008] |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
