Ooops they did it again: Shoppers could face VAT on food

[threaded]

That's the trick though.

You never sell your surplus. You swap it or give it away.

Nice try, but if you're VAT registered you have to assign a cash value to each transaction and pay/reclaim that.

[Sysman]

Nice try, but if you're VAT registered you have to assign a cash value to each transaction and pay/reclaim that.

Only if you are doing it as part of your main VAT registered business. As far as I am aware you can be VAT registered for your main business but run your Plan B as unregistered up to the point where it hits the VAT turnover threshold.

[Sysman]

Seriously I don't think this will happen. I think VAT to 20% will happen instead.

To be cynical, the mention of VAT on food could simply be scare tactics so that raising the standard rate to 20% is more readily accepted.

If you will recall, when VAT on domestic fuel was first proposed, it was put back a year, and to make up the shortfall the standard rate rose from 15% to 17.5%.

(and if you had been paying attention to the serious press, the UK had been under pressure from the EU to raise VAT to be more in line with the rest of the EU for at least a year before, so it was going to happen anyway)

[AtW]

your Plan B as unregistered up to the point where it hits the VAT turnover threshold.

get hit by a squad of anti-narcotics police

[thunderlizard]

To be cynical, the mention of VAT on food could simply be scare tactics so that raising the standard rate to 20% is more readily accepted.

Much more likely. Putting VAT on food would simplify the tax regime (quashing the fascinating Jaffa Cake debate for a start) and that will never happen.

Unless they did it using a complex banding system based on how lardy the food is. They'll probably do that. Darn, I've changed my mind now.