V.A.T. Cuts: Your View
Dec 15th, 2008 by Jamie Bradley
How are the V.A.T. cuts affecting the amount of change you are having to carry around with you? Is it a welcome adjustment by the government, or is it weighing your money bag down? We went in search of your opinions on the matter.
As I’m sure everyone is now aware, the government has recently reduced V.A.T. rates by 2.5% in light of the country entering a period of recession. For those of you who prefer to leave the Christmas shopping up to someone else, here is a brief review of the taxation cuts: V.A.T. - Vaguely Adjusted Tax
These changes took immediate affect as of December 1st and you also may have noticed that many items on the shelves in supermarkets, for example, now come with very precise costings, rather than the conventional 1p less the pound pricings (£x.99)
So, 2 weeks into this taxation review, we want to know how it’s affecting your pocket, if at all.
Do you now have too much unwanted change weighing down your purse/wallet or does it now free up some extra funds to be upgrade to luxury foods every now and then?
Has it made Christmas cheaper for you? Have you even noticed the change in pricings? Or does it simply encourage you to sepnd more?
Here are some of the best responses, as posted by you:
Carol Potts, Lincolnshire
“The price of heating oil has gone down loads, which is good news for me, as the house is run on oil heating. [...] Not sure about all that 1P and 2p in the purse at the end of each transaction at the tills; it prevents me from checking my change and I just put it all in my purse. Whereas before, I would check my change before I left the shop as I have had a few discrepancies in the past with the wrong change given. [...] I still have not found it has made my christmas any cheaper yet. I may see the difference in January when it’s time to look at the bank balance and review the expenditure.”
Charlotte Toop, Dorset
“I have also noticed the price cuts, but i don’t think that i notice a great difference. Petrol prices have declined anyway so although the tax cuts are helping to reduce this cost it isn’t the main reason for the drop in price. I find that the odd few pence don’t make that much difference on small perchases.”
Luke Beddows, York
“Some of the cutbacks are stupid. Where I work we had to manually take 2.13% off all purchases, meaning customers were saving about 23p and, therefore, we had to fork out ridiculous change and they had to keep it in their pockets. Although, myself, I feel the changes are making a difference; be it a loaf of bread or a pint of milk - everyday stuff like that. If I’m constantly saving money on that, I’m happy.”
Gareth Anstice, Kent
“I have noticed, whilst doing Christmas shopping, that I have taken items to the till and they haven’t had the extra VAT taken off them yet. So that’s always a good suprise when that happens. Also, because I’ve bought quite a few items, being Christmas, I may have saved a couple of pounds all together, which meant I could have a pint afterwards.”
If you would like your own say, then either log into our Facebook group, or the forum and just submit your answer under the relevant topic. Alternatively, for a quick and easy way to let us know what you think, get voting on our poll beneath:
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