Shoppers could face VAT on food

[damo_bar 10]

if things arnt bad enough vat on food arnt people struggling enough. just found this on internet http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/shoppers-could-face-vat-on-food-tele-b2a3678c5d7f.html?x=0 is it our fault goverment are in debt

[JFKvsNixon 11]

if things arnt bad enough vat on food arnt people struggling enough. just found this on internet http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/shoppers-could-face-vat-on-food-tele-b2a3678c5d7f.html?x=0 is it our fault goverment are in debt

 

It's not the government that's in debt, it's all of us. The county as a whole is in debt.

 

Anyway it's being discussed here:

 

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=552033

Edited March 7, 2010 by JFKvsNixon

[the_rudeboy 12]

Already a thread on this matey.

 

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=552033

[Lady Star 10]

Hmm - Reading between the lines, it's not seriously up for discussion, what with the industry saying 'no' and the chancellor saying it's not going to happen... It's more than likely been mooted at various meetings etc with regard to finding new ways of creating extra cash for the treasury, but I am sure that other things will be taxed before food is...

 

With regards to blame for lack of cash at the mo, in some ways yes it is our fault, or at least the fault of some of us - bad debts and mortgages taken out by those who cannot afford to pay them off, that's what's caused the current problems - and not just those of us in the UK, but world wide...

[HeadingNorth 11]

Hmm - Reading between the lines, it's not seriously up for discussion, what with the industry saying 'no' and the chancellor saying it's not going to happen... It's more than likely been mooted at various meetings etc with regard to finding new ways of creating extra cash for the treasury

 

 

It certainly should have been.

 

A brainstorming session works best by putting down absolutely every idea you can think of ("what about VAT on food?") and only then, afterwards, going through them and throwing out the unworkable or undesirable ones ("VAT on food? No way, the public would crucify us").

[Sausage Dog 10]

VAT has always been a favourite of the Conservatives; so if Dave manages to scrape 40% of the poll, you can bet VAT increases will be in their first budget.

 

They introduced VAT in the first place at 8% in 1973; then increased it to 15% in 1979, and then increased it to 17.5% in 1991; and then extended it to domestic fuel in 1993.

 

Tories always like taxes that have more of an impact on the poor.

[HeadingNorth 11]

Tories always like taxes that have more of an impact on the poor.

 

But VAT does not. It's a tax on what people spend; rich people spend more money and pay more of it.

[Sausage Dog 10]

Unless it is brought in on food, since poor people spend a greater % of their income on food, so the total % of their income going to tax would be higher (it refers to a proportion when you say "they pay more tax" rather than the actual amount they pay)

 

Also, not saying it isn't true per se, but a lot of time when "whitehall" is looking at it it is as said above just an idea being floated to see what the reaction is, rather than an idea that is likely to be implemented.

 

That's right. VAT on esentials, like fuel and food, has a disproportionate negative impact on poorer people.

 

As I say, this is an old favourite of the Tories.

[truman 10]

That's right. VAT on esentials, like fuel and food, has a disproportionate negative impact on poorer people.

 

As I say, this is an old favourite of the Tories.

 

Haven't seen Labour reduce it much in the past 13 years....

[Sausage Dog 10]

Haven't seen Labour reduce it much in the past 13 years....

 

They cut VAT on fuel (domestic gas and electricity) to the minimum that they were allowed soon after they were elected in 1997 (under EU rules, once you've brought VAT in on an item you are pretty much stuck with it). I seem to remember that cutting VAT on fuel was one of the pledges that Labour made in the 1997 general election.

[Flowersfade 10]

VAT on food ah well maybe it'll stop obesity ..

[Tridentine 10]

It's all part of a very clever plot to eliminate poverty from the UK.

 

Place VAT on food and the poor won't be able to afford it so they will either emigrate or starve. Either way you''ll be rid of them and so can say that 'poverty has been eliminated'.

 

Nobody ever claimed to eliminate poverty just by giving away more money

 

"Hard on the poor and hard on the causes of the poor ".

 

Simples