to not get the fuss over the VAT rise

[teceral]

Its only going up by 2.5%, something that costs £10 now costs £10.21, its not a major deal. It also not on food etc. AIBU to think its much ado about nothing

Because tax if already 40p/£1.00 over £37k and 50p/£1.00 over £150k, that to me is high enough especially for those who earn around £40 - 50k who are also being hit by the loss of child benefits.

However, this thread isn't about that so I won't list all the other reasons why I disagree with it.

mummee sorry you're wrong. A basket costing £100 last week would be £102.21 this (assuming all items were vat rated at full amount).

Most retailers will hold prices until the end of the current sale when they normally implement their 6 monthly mark ups anyway. Unlike previous adjustments there has been more notice so new stock will already come in priced at a rate of 20%. It iwell hit first on more market sensitive products liek petrol and eating out.

It is a big deal. We are being squeezed from every side. It's the hidden things which you won't notice until you're billed for them which worry me - gas, electricity, phone etc. It all adds up.

Sanitary products and Energy Utilities are 5% VAT and not subject to the rise:

Are any items exempt from VAT?

Yes. Food is the biggest, with the exception of so-called luxury items such as crisps, ice-cream, popcorn, chocolate bars and restaurant and takeaway meals. Domestic travel, books, newspapers and children's clothing and prescription drugs are also exempt. Home conversions, women's sanitary products, children's car seats and domestic energy bills are subject to a reduced VAT rate of 5%, which will remain unchanged.

From the bottom of this article

fraid so Riven - VAT on top of parts and labour for things like that

we needed a load of work done on the car so we got it done before Jan 4th

it's a PITA isn't it

I haven't had a cost of living increase in 3 years, and yet every year lots of things increase. Council tax, bus pass etc goes up every year.

Just had a 9% increase in gas prices. Although VAT us still 5% on that, at least.

But I've had notices about many of our services (briadband, pet insurance etc) increasing in Jan to reflect new VAT rates, and no extra cash to reflect this - so we have more increases than usual to cover, and zero extra income. Great.

umm I thought take aways had no VAT on them?!
I was reading today that land tax is apparently the way to go?

Take aways don't have VAT on them because its food which is VAT exempt

The good news is cake is vat free

Well there you have it.

Let them eat cake.

And takeaways.

this was sealed as a given when Labour ropped VAT to 15% for a year - and planned then.

i don't think it will make much difference to our household - the drop didn't either.
most of what we buy is either nil-rated or special rate..

our car is having work done, but on the insurance.

the garage had lots of free slots for work, funnily enough :)

Unless you're on a low income it's not a big deal - we've already seen pay cuts etc due to the recession which had far more impact on us. All the complaining in the papers about hurting middle income families is a bit ridiculous when really it's nothing compared with being unemployed. I'd be happy to pay more tax if it is needed.

But for those on the lowest income I have a lot of sympathy because I think the rising cost of food is going to be really horrid. That will have far more of an impact as we can't put off or avoid feeding our families.

Tootles, I don't think it's a huge leap to talk about income tax on a thread about VAT. Just to be clear, a rise in income tax would cost me a lot more than a rise in VAT will. Doesn't mean I can't think it's an unfair tax.

well it makes life generally more expensive

and it seems pretty expensive at the moment anyway!

not the end of the world for a lot of people (myself included), but another kick in the teeth if you are struggling already I guess

I think people need to realise the severity of the fiscal crisis. We have an enormous budget deficit which urgently needs reducing. The Government is therefore cutting spending and increasing taxes. We could not raise VAT but then we'd have to make bigger cuts

if everything we spent money on (ie, our total income) incured an additional 2.1% - then we'd be £29.40 worse off per month.

almost nothing we spend money on incurrs that rate of VAT (mortgage being the main expenditure)

Ed Prefect was predicting it would cost everyone £7.50 a week! I'd like to know where he got those kinds of numbers from because I'm pretty sure I don't spend £300/week on goods that attract VAT....

YANBU if you are wealthy. You will pay more but it won't hurt you.

YABU if you are on an average or low income. It all adds up and it WILL hurt.

Tories looking after their own and to hell with the rest of us.

Definitely a kick in the teeth for me, not devastatingly so, but it's definitely going to make itself felt.

I'm a student living off students finance and a part time job, my parents support me as much as they can, but they hover around the having to be careful but not having daily worries line.

Quick question, does anyone know if affects rent?

I am not spending anything on clothes in the uk this year and then probably going to USA for Christmas as usual and blowing the lot!

It is going to get a whole lot worse yet. Like thousands of others I am being made redundant in march. The public sector redundancies will have a big impact on many other businesses I am sure. True I will only receive £65 a week for 6 months but my lost tax revenue will be over £20k alone.