Companys not passing on the VAT reduction

daheff

Ok..so friday marked the start of the new VAT rate. I've noticed companys not passing it on...when mentioned to staff the response was mild apathy


Where can i complain about companys not passing on the rate reduction? dept of finance/ enterprise??

stargazer 68

daheff wrote: »

Ok..so friday marked the start of the new VAT rate. I've noticed companys not passing it on...when mentioned to staff the response was mild apathy


Where can i complain about companys not passing on the rate reduction? dept of finance/ enterprise??

There are a couple of threads on this already and general consensus seems to be nobody - they dont have to pass it on seemingly.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

daheff wrote: »

Ok..so friday marked the start of the new VAT rate. I've noticed companys not passing it on...when mentioned to staff the response was mild apathy


Where can i complain about companys not passing on the rate reduction? dept of finance/ enterprise??

There is no obligation to reduce proces in line with the VAT reductions. I think personally that they should but they don't have to. Rates went up and rent went up but most of the restaurants around here didin't increase prices.

Not that a meal coming from €100 to €96, or €10 tp €9.60, is going to make much odds anyway.

bren2002

Joe Duffy

daheff

its not so much the amount of the reduction - more so that companies were warned not to keep the extra for themselves, but yet are still doing so


remember the tax payer is taking a hit for this vat reduction (to the tune of about 350m eur) -and the idea was that lower costs would result in increased volumes of services (and more tourists). If companys are just keeping the extra then you & me are going to have to pay for it in extra taxes (and i cant afford to keep paying more taxes cos of other peoples greed !)

foggy_lad

daheff wrote: »

its not so much the amount of the reduction - more so that companies were warned not to keep the extra for themselves, but yet are still doing so


remember the tax payer is taking a hit for this vat reduction (to the tune of about 350m eur) -and the idea was that lower costs would result in increased volumes of services (and more tourists). If companys are just keeping the extra then you & me are going to have to pay for it in extra taxes (and i cant afford to keep paying more taxes cos of other peoples greed !)

Publicans were asked/warned some years ago not to put up their prices for Christmas as the government had left alcohol excise untouched in the budget that year but they seemed to forget this a few weeks before that Christmas.

Business owners, shopkeepers etc will suit themselves and will put prices up untill we stop paying!

dudara

There is no currentl legal obligation on retailers to pass on the VAT reduction. The amount of money they pay to the government will decrease from 13% to 9%, but they do not have to pass that cut to the consumer.

The fact is a lot of retailers have been facing increasing costs for raw materials etc, and this VAT reduction offers them a chance not to increase prices.

The government has indicated that they will look into the area of retailers not passing on the VAT reduction, but I'm not sure what powers they can use to do that.

mw3guc

dudara wrote: »

There is no currentl legal obligation on retailers to pass on the VAT reduction. The amount of money they pay to the government will decrease from 13% to 9%, but they do not have to pass that cut to the consumer.

The fact is a lot of retailers have been facing increasing costs for raw materials etc, and this VAT reduction offers them a chance not to increase prices.

The government has indicated that they will look into the area of retailers not passing on the VAT reduction, but I'm not sure what powers they can use to do that.

... in which case I would rather the VAT rate was left alone and the retailers put up their prices as the market dictated. That way, only those who bought the product would pay for it instead of the rest of us subsidising it through our taxes

fatboypee

From what I hear in the press etc this is gonna fail on an epic scale to ignite spending / encourage tourism. I spent last week in the UK and must admit I enjoyed every minute of it as my cash went alot further.

In short, I spent my hard earned money in a place where I could get value,where competition meant that prices were low and it appeared at least that shops, bars etc WANTED my business.

For our government to issue a VAT reduction, only for the shops/restaurants/services to suck it up and not pass it on is, in my view, tantamout to them sticking their (somewhat cynical GRUBBY) hand into MY (the taxpayer) pocket and taking a nice wee bonus intended to stimulate our economy through bringing in extra trade.

Just another sad indictment to add to all the rest that add up to the retail and hospitality industries here. Oh, and yes, I know, suppliers are putting up costs, yada yada yada. Still no justification for those affected by the VAT reduction to do the same.

fatboypee

On another note, I was foolish enough to enter the "Your Country Your Call" sham. My idea at the time was to discount the VAT rate for all qualifying persons presenting a tourist card that they got from a designated organisation.

This would have tethered the VAT reduction / discount to actual tourist visiting the country / attraction and would have made it clear to the retailer / hotelier / whomever that this reduction was due because this person was bringing in trade etc etc. The benefit would have been twofold: 1. The discount would HAVE to have been pushed through. 2. The retailler / whomever would welcome the business and see a direct link.

I think I got, ahem, 3 votes.

danmanw8

fatboypee wrote: »

From what I hear in the press etc this is gonna fail on an epic scale to ignite spending / encourage tourism. I spent last week in the UK and must admit I enjoyed every minute of it as my cash went alot further.

In short, I spent my hard earned money in a place where I could get value,where competition meant that prices were low and it appeared at least that shops, bars etc WANTED my business.

For our government to issue a VAT reduction, only for the shops/restaurants/services to suck it up and not pass it on is, in my view, tantamout to them sticking their (somewhat cynical GRUBBY) hand into MY (the taxpayer) pocket and taking a nice wee bonus intended to stimulate our economy through bringing in extra trade.

Just another sad indictment to add to all the rest that add up to the retail and hospitality industries here. Oh, and yes, I know, suppliers are putting up costs, yada yada yada. Still no justification for those affected by the VAT reduction to do the same.

This whole thing makes me mad! It was on the radio this afternoon but very few establishments were named. If there was a naming and shaming culture they'd get their act together.
To kick it off I've just this minute created a facebook page for naming the good guys as well as the bad guys:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/VAT-Watch/132220523525709

RangeR

danmanw8 wrote: »

This whole thing makes me mad! It was on the radio this afternoon but very few establishments were named. If there was a naming and shaming culture they'd get their act together.
To kick it off I've just this minute created a facebook page for naming the good guys as well as the bad guys:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/VAT-Watch/132220523525709

dislike

dudara

There is already a Name & Shame thread in the Rip Off Ireland forum

dudara

Del2005

There was a restaurant owner on the radio earlier, can't remember the station but more than likely Phantom, who said that he wasn't dropping his prices. He said he hadn't raised his prices in 4 or 5 years and was using the VAT reduction to hire one more full time person.

Me I'd rather that the VAT gets someone off the dole then have 4% off a meal or haircut, which most people will properly end up leaving as a tip!

mw3guc

Del2005 wrote: »

There was a restaurant owner on the radio earlier, can't remember the station but more than likely Phantom, who said that he wasn't dropping his prices. He said he hadn't raised his prices in 4 or 5 years and was using the VAT reduction to hire one more full time person.

Me I'd rather that the VAT gets someone off the dole then have 4% off a meal or haircut, which most people will properly end up leaving as a tip!

I would agree - IF I could believe it. Unfortunately, even if by the wildest stretch of one's credulity, this person created an extra job I'd be very, very surprised if he wasn't in the tiniest of minorities (if not entirely alone) countrywide.

I sympathise with business people who are finding the times difficult and have been postponing price rises as a result, but this VAT reduction was not designed to cushion them from market forces. Job creation is a whole other ball game and shouldn't have anything to do with creaming off VAT reductions ... or robbing Peter to pay Paul.

sendit

danmanw8 wrote: »

This whole thing makes me mad! It was on the radio this afternoon but very few establishments were named. If there was a naming and shaming culture they'd get their act together.
To kick it off I've just this minute created a facebook page for naming the good guys as well as the bad guys:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/VAT-Watch/132220523525709

Someone has far too much tiime on there hands.....

Del2005

mw3guc wrote: »

I would agree - IF I could believe it. Unfortunately, even if by the wildest stretch of one's credulity, this person created an extra job I'd be very, very surprised if he wasn't in the tiniest of minorities (if not entirely alone) countrywide.

He could be telling fibs but the business was never mentioned so we'll never know. I'm sure there are companies pocketing the money but I'm sure a lot more need the money to stay afloat.

I sympathise with business people who are finding the times difficult and have been postponing price rises as a result, but this VAT reduction was not designed to cushion them from market forces. Job creation is a whole other ball game and shouldn't have anything to do with creaming off VAT reductions ... or robbing Peter to pay Paul.

So a buisness that's had rent increases, rate increases, insurance increases, tax increases etc and still managed to keep prices the same for several years(which could only be done by firing people or the owner not taking a wage) should now cut their costs even more(fire more people) for 4%.

If they can't use the 4% to cushion themselves then the business could very well fold and then we'll have more people on the dole and even less tax.

The government are loading charges onto businesses with one hand and giving a token 4% VAT reduction with the other, yet want them to only give the discount and not the extra charges.

They don't give a damn about us, but want people to blame businesses for the high cost here not themselves.

lobber

This all seems a bit old to be re-hashing again. I have quite a vested interest in it at this stage as my wedding is booked for September the 10th.

When I queried with the hotel earlier this month about the price reduction they stated they were waiting for the 'general line' from the hotels federation on. they then came back to us last week with revised pricing which reduced the rental of the venue, which was originally €3500 by €50, and by not reducing any of the other elements of the agreed price (such as the meal or rooms) at all.

They have in fact raised their price as they had initially quoted us as follows for the meal: Main Course 100(TBA) @ €50 which to us clearly indicated the amount of guests was only an estimate, not the price for the meal. Now they have sent us the menu options for our tasting with the individual items per course. Even if we are to get the cheapest items on this it is going to cost us a minimum of 1300 extra on this alone!!!!