And as if the UK wasn't bad enough..

[bfitzgerald]

On photographic equipment prices just add a nice VAT hike to 20% next year!
Wonderful..

I'm not old enough to remember but evidently it was just a pretty small tax at one time decades ago. Seems every time a Government gets in that begins with a "C" they hike up the VAT (I remember going from 15% to 17.5%) Problem is it never seems to get reduced.
Even more incentive to Hong Kong ebay it for higher priced goods. And the increase in new prices whilst it may not seem significant it's still a tax that hits the less well off far more than higher income earners.

Can it get any worse? Well we'll find out later this afternoon as England get a hammering from Germany in the world cup

[Javelin]

You people already pay higher retail prces for stuff than anywhere else. we aren't that far behind tax wise. next week a new kind of consumptioon tax starts that a lot like VAT it's a combined vederal/provincial tax. 13%

And the increase in new prices whilst it may not seem significant it's still a tax that hits the less well off far more than higher income earners.

Can it get any worse? Well we'll find out later this afternoon as England get a hammering from Germany in the world cup

[pakodominguez]

It probably won't be that bad: England just score (Ger 2 - Eng 1)

[bakubo]

Problem is it never seems to get reduced.

Yes, no matter what the politicians say when they raise taxes, such as it is only a temporary tax and so on, it will not go away and it will get bigger and bigger over time. When the voters start to catch on then they start using euphemisms, such as 'fee', etc. instead of the word 'tax'.

[bakubo]

You people already pay higher retail prces for stuff than anywhere else. we aren't that far behind tax wise. next week a new kind of consumptioon tax starts that a lot like VAT it's a combined vederal/provincial tax. 13%

Are you talking about the HST in British Columbia?

[David Kilpatrick]

When I started in photography, we had Purchase Tax instead of VAT. It was 25% on camera equipment and similar luxury goods. Personaly, I would rather remit VAT to the government than pay personal tax. But the 20% change will shift the market towards unregistered (very small) business traders in photography especially for weddings and portraits, where the public is the end customer.

David

[bfitzgerald]

Having previously run a small business which was VAT registered I would say it would be entirely pointless for anyone doing photography to register for VAT..instantly you become less competitive and you add 20% to your prices overnight.
Yes you can claim back the VAT on expenses and purchases, but if you spent say £1000 on a lens and claimed back £200 in VAT then the remaining £800 as business cost..you are no better off than putting down £1000 as a business cost and not paying tax on that sum (as you are taxed on profit, not turnover) There is no incentive to register for VAT as you gain nothing from it.

VAT is a soft touch for Governments to pick on as it's "just a bit more" on purchases but add it up over the longer term it's a grossly unfair tax (hits the lower income families far more than top end earners) And whilst there are some VAT exempt items such as food items and children's clothes etc a lot of non luxury stuff has VAT on it too. And with record prices at the petrol pumps that's a bit more slapped on there too..nice

Wandering back to the world cup..entirely predictable result some mild glimmer of hope from England but that faded after the absurd "no goal" that England scored..FIFA really have to get on top of this it's making a mockery of the game. A faster brighter German team easily thumped England..some very poor defending and I'd say Capello might get the shove sooner rather than later.

[pakodominguez]

VAT is a soft touch for Governments to pick on as it's "just a bit more" on purchases but add it up over the longer term it's a grossly unfair tax (hits the lower income families far more than top end earners)

The ony way to fool the State (doesn't really matters who's at the head of the gouverment) is if you have LOTS of money, and even then: look at Phil Collins" case, he had to go to th exile becuse tax issues.

Wandering back to the world cup..entirely predictable result some mild glimmer of hope from England but that faded after the absurd "no goal" that England scored..FIFA really have to get on top of this it's making a mockery of the game. A faster brighter German team easily thumped England..some very poor defending and I'd say Capello might get the shove sooner rather than later.

You can hire Maradona for the Euro 2012...

[bakubo]

The ony way to fool the State (doesn't really matters who's at the head of the gouverment) is if you have LOTS of money, and even then: look at Phil Collins" case, he had to go to th exile becuse tax issues.

Ain't that the truth! With enough money you can afford the lawyers and accountants to avoid paying a whole lot of taxes that us regular Joes just have to grit our teeth and pay.

Willie Nelson though is another case of someone getting in hot water over income taxes and he ended up losing almost everything. He has been working his way back to wealth though. Helps when you have talent and a large catalog of great music over decades. I suppose he gets royalties for that -- singer and songwriter.

Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7vaYOIKWYY

[bakubo]

Can it get any worse?

Well, you could be stuck in Sedona.

Okay, before anyone gets upset, I'm only joking. David and Shirley are not having a good time on their trip and when I read that comment of yours I just couldn't resist.

[Birma]

I heard a quote from Willie Nelson which was something along the lines of: "If you owe the tax man $1 milliion dollars then you're in trouble. If you owe the tax man $35 million dollars then the tax man is in trouble.". He sounded good on the TV coverage from the Glastonbury festival on Friday night - hope he sells a bunch more records on the back of that .

[bakubo]

I heard a quote from Willie Nelson which was something along the lines of: "If you owe the tax man $1 milliion dollars then you're in trouble. If you owe the tax man $35 million dollars then the tax man is in trouble.". He sounded good on the TV coverage from the Glastonbury festival on Friday night - hope he sells a bunch more records on the back of that .

Yeah, that is about how it goes.

Willie Nelson - Crazy, live in Scotland in 1992

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0jOR5DC0rM

Back in the 1970s and early 1980s I saw Willie live 5 or 6 times. Great show. Twice he was with Waylon Jennings. Waylon Jennings is also fantastic!

[Javelin]

Same thing except Ontario. eventuallyevery province will go this way

Are you talking about the HST in British Columbia?

[bossel]

If you owe the tax man $1 milliion dollars then you're in trouble.

Make that 5 bucks ...

[Headcell]

...it's still a tax that hits the less well off far more than higher income earners...

Oh yes, all those poor people whose housing is heavily subsidised, whose council tax is heavily subsidised, who get HUGE handouts every month from the government as an incentive not to work. Those poor people who have Sky television and massive wide screen, flat screen televisions in their living rooms, and who use the latest top-notch mobile phone to inanely gossip with Lacey and Macey and Tracey next door.

What's that, I'm talking through my rectum? ... No, I speak from experience. When I gave up work to become self employed, the government started giving me money I did not want and did not need, but there was no way to stop it. My job took me to many places, a lot of them council estates with high 'unemployment'... I've never seen such opulence! Not even when I happened to work on a private estate where every house cost at least £1million.

I have no problems with VAT going up. I do object to fuel prices going up. 'Poor' people won't pay VAT on fruit and veg, all they need to keep healthy. But nobody should be paying VAT to keep themselves warm.

Oh, and I object to National Insurance increasing, especially when the NHS is so doggie-doo.

Rant over.

Ken

(No, I did not vote Conservative!)