Dave Plowman (News) wrote
Dave Plowman (News) wrote
Tim Watts wrote

No - but apparently we cannot VAT exempt a class of items as we wish (eg
like books, children's clothes other "essential" items used to be zero
VAT rated).

As a matter of interest, why should books be zero rated? They
are hardly an essential item. And why children's clothes? Are
all parents necessarily poorer than adults who buy clothes?

IIRC, the UK government can set the individual VAT rate anyway.

The minimum EU rate for most things is 15% - yet it's 20% in the UK.
Which of course must be the fault of the EU. There are individual
items which can be rated lower. Can't be bothered to look them up.

VAT is a very convenient tax for a Tory government

And for almost every other modern first and second world govt except the US
too.

as it allows them to have lower income tax rates.

And in almost every other modern first and second world country too.

Thus moving the tax burden to the lower paid.

Fantasy. Those spend a lot less on stuff the
VAT is charged on than the higher paid.

And why shouldn’t the lower paid be paying some
of the tax burden since they use the govt services
a lot more than the higher paid do anyway ?