VAT and Tesco

[NickFitz]

I just filled up while I was at Sainsbury's: 105.9p/litre. I have no idea if this price has changed since I last filled up just before Christmas.

[Diver]

I just filled up while I was at Sainsbury's: 105.9p/litre. I have no idea if this price has changed since I last filled up just before Christmas.

I filled up at Sainsbury's 45 min ago. didn't look at the price

[Zippy]

I filled up at Sainsbury's 45 min ago. didn't look at the price

Flash contractor git!

[AtW]

I was in Tesco this morning, and there were signs on the tills saying: "On 1st January 2010 the treasury increased the VAT rate to 17.5%".

I'm no grammar expert, but it seems to me they were using the past tense to describe a future action.

And from 1st of january you'd complain that they talk about present (and later past) date using future tense?

[SantaClaus]

The obvious proof that retailers never cut their prices in line with the VAT decrease was that all prices still ended 99.

[NickFitz]

The obvious proof that retailers never cut their prices in line with the VAT decrease was that all prices still ended 99.

Some of the large stores continued to display the price as if the 17.5% rate was still in effect, then applied the deduction at the till. M&S did this on clothing, household goods and so on. I suppose it's a lot less hassle to simply program the PoS systems to apply a fixed discount to all sales than to find and change all the places 17.5% is used in the various systems in use.