Labour tax cuts ?

[beorhthelm]

1. Should we really be encouraging people to go out and spend/borrow more, when it was exactly that which got us in this mess in the first place?

2. VAT - has the cost of implementing this reduction been thought through - especially as it is only a temporary measure, and will be reversed after a year/18 months?

1. no, and frankly i want to throw somthing at the telly/radio everytime i hear Brown/Darling/Other Numpty saying we need to return to 2007 lending levels.

2. no, and...

I wonder how many pubs and clubs etc will knock off the 2.5% VAT.

of course not, nor will most retailers or service providers, at least not on the goods and services we want and arent already in the clearance bins. You wont see DVDs or PLaystation/Xbox games a £ cheaper. so really this just props up businesses, which isnt necesarily bad, but not what is advertised.

 

[Skint Gull]

We run our own business selling mostly high ticket price items and I have to say, this comes accross as a really rediculious thing to do.

It's not going to suddenly make people start spending

It will mean a few business's can save a couple of %

It will probably cost the Inland Revenue a fortune as Joe the tradesman will be invoicing all of his work after the date of this changing of VAT and pocketing the difference

It will be an absolute PAIN IN THE ARSE for admin.

Pointless exercise IMO

 

[London Calling]

We run our own business selling mostly high ticket price items and I have to say, this comes accross as a really rediculious thing to do.

It's not going to suddenly make people start spending

It will mean a few business's can save a couple of %

It will probably cost the Inland Revenue a fortune as Joe the tradesman will be invoicing all of his work after the date of this changing of VAT and pocketing the difference

It will be an absolute PAIN IN THE ARSE for admin.

Pointless exercise IMO

this was my sense of the matter - that's why I posted earlier?

Its a good will gesture not thought through - just like all of Darlings policies and ideas.

 

[bigc]

this was my sense of the matter - that's why I posted earlier?

Its a good will gesture not thought through - just like all of Darlings policies and ideas.

I take your point but there really is limited room for leeway here isn't there?

Plus it feels like we are in uncharted waters, the old rules haven't applied to what the governments of the world are doing, so who knows how the populace will result in this new framework.

 

[London Calling]

I take your point but there really is limited room for leeway here isn't there?

Plus it feels like we are in uncharted waters, the old rules haven't applied to what the governments of the world are doing, so who knows how the populace will result in this new framework.

I know.

A drop in fuel duty? Could have had the same impact?

Easier to monitor and harder not to pass on the difference.

Not green but we are unchartered territory.

VAT is regressive so I am all for it being dropped down and staying down to 15% or lower.

 

[Porky]

If VAT is included in the price of a product, how can consumers be sure they are getting the 2.5% relief?

 

[bigc]

I know.

A drop in fuel duty? Could have had the same impact?

Easier to monitor and harder not to pass on the difference.

Not green but we are unchartered territory.

VAT is regressive so I am all for it being dropped down and staying down to 15% or lower.

It would have been good to bar the train companies from doing their above inflation fare increases, that would be a green move.

 

[Titanic]

If VAT is included in the price of a product, how can consumers be sure they are getting the 2.5% relief?

You can bet your life that in many case they won't... can you really see stuff that is currently £1.99 being priced down to £1.95?

And will that 4p really have any effect on your buying decisions?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I wonder how many pubs and clubs etc will knock off the 2.5% VAT. Not having a pop at the club but will they reduce the admission prices by that amount. I doubt very much whether many will it will be a cse of them making extra profit or losing less which ever it is. They may makea token gesture in pubs like 1p off a pint but as a number now round the price off to the nearest 5p it wont make much difference.

From the supermarkets it is easier they just adjust the VATable goods By taking it off at the end of the transaction as they do for money off or BOGOFF items.

Why not wait and see. If the Albion dont make the reduction then you have a very good case for having a go at the club.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

You can bet your life that in many case they won't... can you really see stuff that is currently £1.99 being priced down to £1.95?

..... when the Tories increased VAT to 17.5% the shops somehow managed to pass it on to their punters. That was about 30 years ago. I'm sure technology in the 21st century has moved on and it will allow a shopkeeper to reduce the prices accordingly. If they dont work out the reduction on your mobile and pay the correct price and tell them to shove the difference up their arse.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Say you earn £15k, a 1% cut in income tax will give £1.73 a week extra in your pocket.

Say you spend £50 a week on petrol/booze and fags a 2½% reducting in VAT will give you £1.25 in your pocket, that's without all the other things you pay VAT on.

Also a VAT reduction benefits everybody not just earners.

That makes a massive assumption that people will/ do actually have money to buy goods and services in the first place, there are now more and more low income earners who are struggling just to make ends meet, how will this give them more money to spend to save this 2.5%? especially when basics that you have to pay are going up by far more than the 2.5% cut in vat, for example: Council tax (6%) Food (10 - 20% higher prices that last year) etc...

As the cost of living has been going up by more than inflation and therefore by more than wages, eventually more and more will find that what they earned last year now fails to cover the same bills this year

Also do you really see shops charging 2.5p less per pound charged, especially as shops are struggling and may view this as a way to create extra revenue to stay in business in the first place. Something that costs £3.00 with the 2.5% reduction would make it £2,92.5 can you really see shops charging £2.93 for that item?

What is needed and would do far more to stimulate the economy is to put money back into these lower earners pockets, why not increase the minimum wage to say £9hr, or cut / abolish the income tax paid by those earning under £17k. - the low earner were having to live on 0% credit card deals to make ends meet, now they have been stopped, it means that they have even less as they have had to seek deals which charge high rates of interest, making it even worse for them and the economy.

These low earners are where the Government should be focusing on helping and this will have far more of a positive benefit on the economy than a 2.5% cut in VAT, does someone earning £40k+ really need to get that money off a new watch or whatever they choose to buy, when those earning under £18k struggle to pay for basics - yet another shortsighted policy that fails to actually deal with the problem we actually face and will make little or no differnce to the current economic crisis.

 

[Uter]

I wonder how many pubs and clubs etc will knock off the 2.5% VAT. Not having a pop at the club but will they reduce the admission prices by that amount. I doubt very much whether many will it will be a cse of them making extra profit or losing less which ever it is. They may makea token gesture in pubs like 1p off a pint but as a number now round the price off to the nearest 5p it wont make much difference.

From the supermarkets it is easier they just adjust the VATable goods By taking it off at the end of the transaction as they do for money off or BOGOFF items.

I don't think alcohol is taxed in quite the same way so a reduction in VAT won't make any difference to the price of a pint. It's all to do with alcoholic content and volume I believe, but I stand to be corrected.

It's also bad news for fans of Jaffa cakes. They won't see the cost of their favourite confection reduced as it is VAT exempt, due to being classified as a cake not a chocolate covered biscuit, according to a recent high court ruling.

 

[Dave the OAP]

the trouble is that the cost of this christmas will be paid on credit cards!! That is the only cheap money these days......which defeats the whole object!!!

 

[Beach Hut]

Most shrewd people should use the saving to pay off the debt they owe however this illusion will probably ensure they think they are better off therefore accumulate even more debt.

 

[Taybha]

Yet again the good people of hove have to bail out the rest of the peasants who earn under £150k a year! typical

 

[franks brother]

An open letter from Franks brother to Alastair Darling:

Dear Mr Darling

Having the best interests of the UK economy at heart, I would humbly suggest you take a large wedge of the fiscal purse and go to Las Vegas. Try my amazing new gambling system, which if you can hold your nerve, is bound to win eventually.

Forget investment in hospitals, schools and infrastructure projects, this is the prudent and guaranteed way to beat the credit crunch.

Kind Regards
steve

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Reducing VAT to 15% for a year or so is just a headline , we all know whats going to happen next week with items reduced from £1.99 to £1.95 , the price will go back to £1.99 the following week. Alcohol and tobacco products will have duty increases in the budget to recover any reductions caused by the VAT adjustment.

 

[NMH]

Have now pay back later. Why not just slash basic rate tax for low and middle income earners ? None of this cut on Vat or more tax credits on kids. Put the POUND back in your pocket.

Not read to see if anyone has already mentioned this, but the reason is so that instead of saving from what you earn, and keeping it - you save when you spend money. Thus stimulating the economy and getting money flowing.

In a recession, people become frugal and tight about spending. Partly because of the very fear of the word 'recession', which is why the very bandying of that word about, creates a faster dive into a recession than if nobody even thought about or realized there was one.

Notice the Tories keep booing and saying how poor Labour are, even though they ARE taking the "fiscal responsibility" that they accused them of not taking. It's the tories only response, just to cry foul for WHATEVER Labour do.

Fact is, that the government has really acted, and is really trying to counteract a GLOBAL economical slowdown. The tories should stand back and admire, but they're desperate on trying to get somewhere in the next election - even if it's detrimental to Britain!

Cameron is a complete arsehole, a no-mark ponce, and anyone with any sense ought to be crying out to see the end of him as a party leader - especially those in his own party. Obviously they don't have any sense, so he is a leader of the stupid party.

 

[NMH]

Most shrewd people should use the saving to pay off the debt they owe however this illusion will probably ensure they think they are better off therefore accumulate even more debt.

Shrewd, and should, are the operative words where credit is concerned.
Therefore, people who accumulate debt by bad thinking, deserve all they get from that.

 

[NMH]

the trouble is that the cost of this christmas will be paid on credit cards!! That is the only cheap money these days......which defeats the whole object!!!

I refer you to my previous post.
Delving into more debt just to maintain the luxury of the pre-worldrecession era, is just asking for and deserving of what that means in the long run. That's down the decision-making of the individual, and stupid is as stupid does.