20% vat
 

who thinks 20% vat will harm the economy:confused:

Re: 20% vat
 

It'll certainly harm me when the price of fags and beer goes up.

Re: 20% vat
 

price of fuel will mean higher food prices added on with vat hard times ahead..

Re: 20% vat
 

VAT on gas and electricity is 5% - I think it is staying that way.
Forecasted food shortages (which will bring higher prices) are due to crop failures resulting from 'strange weather' and natural disasters.
Food is VAT free for the most part - I resent paying VAT on coconut milk and coconut water - ready made healthy fruit juices are also taxed.

Re: 20% vat
 

It's not pleasant but required ! And it puts much needed funds back into the pot. There will be an initial outcry, but it will fade with time (I know this because Germany in 2006 had a VAT of 16% in 2007 it was raised by 3% to 19%). This isn't solely a Coalition necessity it would've been due under Labour too as the Country is on its arse due to massive debt & nowhere near enough incoming monies to cover costs.

Rise in UK VAT rate looks likely post-election - Blick Rothenberg Chartered Accountants

As to harming the economy that has already been done ! In the long term the hike while disliked will be beneficial for UK. At least in UK you have the softening of the impact by many major stores doing deals on goods thereby halving the price (BOGOF/3 for 2 and suchlike) here & in most other European Countries these marketing techniques don't exist, you pay what you pay ! Also there are different tax rates for different types of product so the rise will not affect all everyday usage. Scaremongering perhaps or the Doom & Gloom dispensers Cherry picking ? :rolleyes:

VAT basics for consumers : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits

Re: 20% vat
 

The thing about the rise in VAT is that it is levied on everyone who buys items subject to the tax........so it cannot be dodged.

Re: 20% vat
 

...it is also a cheap way to gather revenue, because the wholesalers and the retailers bear the lion's share of the admin costs.

Re: 20% vat
 

what makes this more unpalletable is that we are forking out more vat and tax to get out this mess and the government is throwing it all away to other countries in aid rather than put it towards repairing our economy which is teh reason they are giving for these rises

Re: 20% vat
 

It's hardly contributing 'all' the money in aid. It's giving a tiny fraction.

Re: 20% vat
 

so are you saying its ok to ring fence aid n increase it? its a ruddy disgrace that ordinary people must suffer more because of this fact. were all in this together............Like hell we are.:rolleyes:

Re: 20% vat
 

The foreign aid budget at the moment is set at £7billion pounds which is about £500 per every family in Britain.It seems a lot of this money goes to countries who while having crippling poverty still manage to fund nuclear weapons and large armies.To me charity begins at home when times are hard, if we are drawing our horns in at home the foreign aid should be cut in line if not more so .This would enable us to soften the blow to our own job market ,and ensure essential services do not suffer.

Re: 20% vat
 

I thought you were all about redistributing wealth.

Re: 20% vat
 

True but the cost of producing it, distributing and selling it will rise generally.

Re: 20% vat
 

That's OUR wealth among OUR people! Especially when there's not much left.Most of this aid disappears into Swiss bank accounts apparently. Members of the Afgan government have been caught carrying suitcases full of it into Iran and were'n't even stopped!
Even poor Haiti has seen most of the aid money sent disappear and there couldn't be a people in more need of help than them!

Re: 20% vat
 

The sad thing is, some people are fooled into thinking that this is a fair tax because everyone is subjected to VAT on items consumed. However, the richest 10% spend £1 in every £25 of their income on VAT, while the poorest 10% spend £1 in £7.

Re: 20% vat
 

Well, it is obvious that the poor are going to be more affected by paying VAT.......they have much less disposable income....but at least it isn't a tax that the rich can wriggle out of easily by paying an accountant to find the legal loopholes.

Re: 20% vat
 

Insurance doesnt have VAT - its IPT at 5% as from 04.01.11 that becomes 6%.

Increases everywhere.

Re: 20% vat
 

The Labour government reduced vat for a period to help us get out of the mess .

The Con-Lib government are increasing it to help us get out of the mess . :confused: :confused:

Re: 20% vat
 

Be fair, on the date set by the Labour Government! They could say they're not putting it up,they're putting it back to where Labour had it. In fact they probably will.

Re: 20% vat
 

Shaker it's not a matter of being fair It's a matter of it applying to everyone equally ! I understand the point you make, but it is irrelevant, if you & I were to go out to the Pub, then the Footie, then off for a bag of chips & we drank & ate the same we would both spend the same amount as we've both been taxed similarly. Now if you'd gone out with GBP 50 & I GBP 30, we both spend GBP25, your left with GBP 25 & me with GBP 5. That is just a fact of life (Some will always have more than others) But in relation to taxes we've both been equally affected.

So I'm sorry I can't agree with the logic of your comment although I do understand your premise.

Re: 20% vat
 

:confused: The Labour government reduced vat from 17.5% to 15% for a few months .

The Con-Lib government are increasing it from 17.5% to 20% .

I'm criticising neither . I'm just totally confused about the economics of all parties , and to what extent their policies are effective in a global economy .

Re: 20% vat
 

So are they:D

Re: 20% vat
 

True .

We can so easily be blown off course by events beyond our governments control .

I had money in the Anglo-Irish Bank . When things started to worsen in Ireland I decided to put it in the Abbey , but now they are the Spanish Santander .

Re: 20% vat
 

Yes and they have been busy lately sending everybodys details and bank statements to other people, have you checked yours lately?

Re: 20% vat
 

Perhaps that's why I haven't had a statement on an investment for a long while .
I'll be down to see them this week .

Thanks .

Re: 20% vat
 

Its in the paper they have sent statements to people with other peoples details in them and also the statements have been delayed because of some computer cock up:eek:

Re: 20% vat
 

Which is actually unlikely to be a Santander cock up actually. Most Banks outsource printing to secure specialist companies to do this sort of work. They provide datasets to be printed and to reduce risk they only have up to 35K in one set and the system is reset after that. From my "slightly" more informed position based on the rumours around it appears to be some cock up in how the dataset was interpreted but teh job reset at 35K stopped it being worse. At the end of the day its Santanders name on the top and its their contract/contractor that I would hope has some penalty clauses in there!

Re: 20% vat
 

As you say Santanders name at the top their responsibility to make sure things are right,customer service, security and satisfaction should be THEIR priority its with them people have entrusted their money.

Re: 20% vat
 

OMG I can't believe I'm reading this, but hey it's a Santanders "cock up". Well who is to blame if "Santander" employ a company who is "not up to the job which they were employed for"??? Northern Rock springs to mind but by the by hope your investments are safe because you appear to have scant regard for how other folks will cope if their savings disappear down the same drain. Hope your investor is reset to retieve your investments because "penalty claues" or not no ones money is safe IMHO

Re: 20% vat
 

So it is 100% Santander's fault. They should have there licence removed or whatever for a cock up like that.

Re: 20% vat
 

Oh careful now.. you are entering into the realms of even having the gall to question the economic wisdom of this government.. expect some name calling and abosolute rubbish replies from the tory boys on here. :)

Re: 20% vat
 

the "cock-up" was probably outsourced offshore as there being no suitable labour available in the UK to process it , another reflection on 13 years of mis-rule in the educational sector . ;)

Re: 20% vat
 

Only "13 years of mis-rule" Steeljack?..there seems to be some sort of mental barrier of 13 years you people can't go beyond!

Re: 20% vat
 

I think you will find armies of accountants advising businesses of the items of personal spending that can be put through the business's books. That way the VAT can be offset.

I used to know someone who asked friends to retain any receipts they got, so he could pass them on to his accountant to see if they could go through his company's books...people who had absolutely nothing to do with the company!

He's long since dead, by the way!:o:o:o

Re: 20% vat
 

Probably because never before have 13 years been such a bloody disaster;)

Re: 20% vat
 

I have little faith in the economic wisdom of any of our politicians .

We had 18 years of Conservative rule , and no one was more glad than me to see the back of them in May 1997 .
But then the Labour government came on the scene and I had great hopes . These were dashed mainly because of their foreign policy . With the size of their majorities and three consecutive wins , they were given the chance of a liftime . Instead they let what are traditionally known as Labour stalwarts down .

Re: 20% vat
 

As we sell clothing it's a double whammy for us. Our suppliers bring out their new catalogues in January and with it the price changes. The price of cotton has risen by 50% in the past year and we stood several smaller price rises through the last 6 months, but we can't hold our prices any longer.

Re: 20% vat
 

I have no real time for any political parties as the are all as bad as each other ,not giving a stuff for the ordinary people like us.But as soon as the tories were elected my first thought was that people have short memories their last time in power brought a lot of problems to this country. Much like labours last try. Having said that this lot has a cabinet made up of predominately millionaires so what will they know of the real world that we inhabit.:confused:

Re: 20% vat
 

They will know the following:-

1. Legal minimum wage, (and will apply it wherever possible).
2. How to shake hands with the right hand whilst twisting the blade further in with the left).
3. What is morally wrong for the ordinary man and that it doesn't apply to them because they can buy their way out of it.
4. Never to mix socially with ordinary people unless there is an excellent chance of screwing a large profit from them.
5. Never under any circumstances to reveal even with the threat of death, that the leaders of Labour & the Lib Dems are just as bad.
6. How to remove any organisation that is a threat to the other five.

Are we still here?

Obviously accyweb isn't considered a threat then.
:D

Re: 20% vat
 

Ya but we're a special case Less:rolleyes:

Re: 20% vat
 

went in one of the poundshops after seeing the spugster off ... and what theyre doing because of the vat increase .. is charging for the carrier bags .. 1p or 5p .. but have kept the price of the stuff at £1 ...

Re: 20% vat
 

Let us not forget what great things Gordon brown did for us....

1. For the first 10 years of this Labour government we had a booming economy due to the unsustainable house price bubble and poor financial regulation. During this rich period the then Chancellor, Gordon Brown, failed to pay off the national debt, he sold our gold off at a rock bottom price, raided pensions, in fact he went on a spending spree until the money ran out.

2. When the money ran out, Gordon Brown introduced his numerous stealth taxes, but yet again, he did not use the money raised to pay off the national debt, he just carried on spending until the money ran out.

3. When the money from his stealth taxes ran out, Gordon started to borrow money - actually increasing our national debt. He continued to borrow and spend all the way up to the recession leaving our country weak an poorly placed to weather the storm.

4. Gordon Brown told us that we were best placed to face the recession. We now know that Gordon was not exactly telling the truth. Out of all the major economies we were the first into recession and the last out. Gordon Brown's uncontrolled spending very nearly took this country over a cliff.

Re: 20% vat
 

If they were doing that yesterday it was nothing to with VAT, that didn't go up until midnight last night

Re: 20% vat
 

I feel for you both Dave, it is going to be hard on small businesses again, we have had 1 price increase in 7 years, unfortunately the last one was only 2 years ago because of the fuel rises, small businesses (like yours and mine) are often family concerns, so if you lose business and ultimately cease to trade, it affects a lot of family too, it is estimated that you lose up to 10% of your custom when you increase prices, and that this is offset by the increased earnings, in reality it doesnt quite add up like that, we could quite easily end up in a position of you making the missus redundant, and me deciding which son to make redundant! How appealing is that? :mad:

Re: 20% vat
 

I suspect there will be a surge in interest in migrating to Australia when people find out that our GST (VAT)is set at 10%.......look me up when you get here.:D

Re: 20% vat
 

So good that you spend your time on a website based in the old country.

Homesick?

Re: 20% vat
 

Why?

It is all relative to the cost of everything else not just one thing like VAT

Re: 20% vat
 

Shall I bring my own mop and bucket?:p:D:D

Re: 20% vat
 

BBC News - Who, What, Why: What happens to £9.99 when VAT rises?

The standard rate of VAT has gone up from 17.5% to 20%. What will this mean for the familiar "price points" to which consumers are accustomed?

Re: 20% vat
 

Simple answer to the original question is yes.. this will harm the economy and also harm small business.. Cameron's comments on the run up to the election?.. " Let us be in no doubt that any rise in VAT will affect the poorest in our society" ...:(... we have become the highest taxed nation in the G8..have borrowed and spent the most in the history of this country.. along with paying the highest gas, electric, and petrol prices in the western world.. all in the space of eight months!

Re: 20% vat
 

It probably means that a £9.99 item will go up to £10.99. Not a 2.5% increase, but a 10.1% increase.

And if anyone charges you an extra 2.5% claiming it is the VAT increase, then they are conning you.

For example, if the charge is £10.00, they might put it up to £10.25. However, the £10.00 was made up of £8.51 plus £1.49 VAT. The new charge should be £8.51 plus £1.70 VAT = £10.21.

Not a lot, you might think, but a nice little earner for the supplier.

Re: 20% vat
 

And we are tackling the highest debt in this countries history created by the last utter useless Government

Re: 20% vat
 

Think you'll need more than that Beni:D

Re: 20% vat
 

Only good swimmers need apply!

Re: 20% vat
 

If any price increase is only VAt then you would be correct in your maths. However in our case the VAT is only a very small percentage of cost increases, so we have to include those as well. Many small businesses aren't VAt registered so the actual VAT on the goods themselves is not the only extra, delivery costs & service costs are also increased by the VAT.

If you still think it's a nice little earner I would be quite happy to listen to any offers for the purchase of my business :D

Re: 20% vat
 

You say tax rises and spending cuts will harm the economy.. so.. what exactly do you suggest the country does about the deficit?

Re: 20% vat
 

Mancie usually uses the Ostrich Method, very useful when your up the creek without a paddle;)

Re: 20% vat
 

well so far the majority of money saved from teh conservitive cuts has gone to outher countries such as ireland and pakistan so maybe not giving money away hand over fist to other countries economies might be a good start ?

hang on im wrong there our government borrowed money to give away because they havnt saved any money yet

Re: 20% vat
 

The 'majority of money'? Can you back that up with facts?

There are two issues here. One was a loan to Ireland which we will make a profit on, which is different to giving aid. Would you have let Ireland go to the wall despite our publicly owned banks being exposed by billions?

Re: 20% vat
 

Maybe if that bunch of Tory spineless cretins had told the Micks to raise their corporate tax level to that of the UK then a) the Irish would not have had to borrow the money in the first place and b) we could have seen a few more jobs relocated from Eire to Britain.

Re: 20% vat
 

Why not?......I was born in Marsden St.......:)

Re: 20% vat
 

Well I suppose somebody had to be born there:D

Re: 20% vat
 

anyone sussed out any shops adding a bit on with the vat increase ... just asking as today after meeting at the research centre .. i went to get some shopping ... and got charged ten quid .. id got charged 9.70 on tuesday .. so wi a bit of googling ... got a vat calculator ... and they'd rounded it up to ten quid .. instead of it being £9.91 ...

Re: 20% vat
 

It's not illegal to raise prices ya know :D

If you came in to our shop last week and bought a plain hoodie you would have paid £11, now you pay £13, put that throught your calculator :p

Re: 20% vat
 

You forgot the "and smoke it" bit off the end :rofl38::rofl38::rofl38:

I think that a lot of shops will use the increase as "cover" to increase prices, it would not be the first time. It happens with tax increases after the budget as well.

Re: 20% vat
 

Most shops won't exist in 6 months time. We will all have made so much from the VAT increase we will have all taken early retirement and swanned off to our holiday homes in the sun :rofl38::rofl38::rofl38::rofl38:

Re: 20% vat
 

Don't fall in the trap of trying to settle in Ibiza, its full of drunken Brits:D

Re: 20% vat
 

Do I look common ? :rolleyes:

Re: 20% vat
 

Went in Argos in Hull on Tues the 4th Jan to buy a couple of things.Got back in the car and looked at the receipt.The new VAT price was already being charged.I nearly went back in to ask for my money back.Argos is supposed to be a competetive shop yet they cant wait to get there hands on more cash. Think again before I go in there.

Re: 20% vat
 

Thats probably because the VAT increase came in to force on Tuesday 4th......

Re: 20% vat
 

I don't understand that. The price advertised will be the price you pay. The VAt element of it is irrelevabt. As pipin says the VAt came in to force at 00.01 on Tuesday morning.

Are you saying Argos chraged you more than the price you agreed to pay ?

Re: 20% vat
 

Never sin ya when your gatted:D

Re: 20% vat
 

Argos, Lancsdave or yours truly make no more money from the vat increase, we collect it and pass it to the government, we should probably charge for the administration, but probably wont!

Re: 20% vat
 

Can you talk us through why it costs more in administration to charge 20% rather than 17.5%? Do you use more ink writing out the numbers? :confused:

Re: 20% vat
 

Can actually make less. If you bought something before the 4th and only reclaimed 17.5% you now have to pay 20% on it. So the profit margin is actually down compared to what it would have been before the 4th

You promised you wouldn't tell anyone, you bitch!

Re: 20% vat
 

When you are used to a calculation over many years, it becomes 'the norm', when this changes, you have to accustom to the new calculation, it is written somewhere that it takes 7 days to form a habit, therefore you could expect your calculations to take longer. I am expecting staff to make mistakes with the new calculations, wasting time and paper, by default this will increase costs.