Replies (3)
Please login or register to join the discussion.
The whole of VAT is a mess with exemptions and confusions, tampon tax, hot food/cold food, disabled this and that and even my daughter pays no VAT on her clothes as she gets away with kids sizes. Slap it on everything and even a reduced rate on food (6% here in the Netherlands). Top up pensions and benefits to cover all increases implied.
Good tax, actually runs well...in my experience and is effective. If I buy a Ferrari I pay a lot if I buy a Lada I do not!(are Ladas still available?)
This is a rubbish tax that is charged to many businesses who shouldn't be involved because it is tax neutral. They just have to comply with the unnecessary bureaucracy. It is a consumer tax and it is inconsistently applied. Pasty tax and Jaffa cakes are just two examples of the many, many idiocies.
Anyone who owns property is faced with a myriad of rules to do with zero rating, exemption, lower rate, standard rating, partial exemption etc. Whilst touching on this, partial exemption is a minefield. I can't believe any sane person would invent this unnecessary complexity, but they have.
My subscription service manual for VAT is the same size as the manual for all of the other taxes combined and that says it all.
I wholeheartedly agree - there will be a lot of time spent fruitlessly ironing out the anomalies (for example, a Harry Potter colouring book that both adults and children might enjoy). Also, I do not really understand why an adult colouring book should be treated any differently from a children's colouring book for tax purposes - after all, an intelligent and artistic child might use an adult's book...