Government to close VAT 'Loophole': DVD's, Games, Misic to go up in price

[Rude Dog]

I go to the high street maybe once a month to go to WHSmiths to get a magazine I can't get in my corner shop. My wife parks right outside on the double yellows, i go in, pick up said mag and pay and leave. If a traffic warden comes she smiles, explains she picking me up and i'm a cripple and they usually let her wait for a couple of mins. Big friendly smiles, polite conversation, low cut tops and a large cleavage on show always helps. 2 -3 mins tops and then were gone. I go to the high street properly maybe 2 times a year, wifes birthday and christmas. Any other time I shop online. Its cheaper, easier and I have a bad back and don't have to go anywhere.
I am on incap benefit. I don't have money to waste on fuel, parking charges and shop overheads and therefore every penny I can save helps us as a family.

[Rude Dog]

And I don't mind waiting a few days for something I want. Half the fun is the anticipation and then having something to "unwrap" even if you know what it is
Maybe I just have more patience than you

[Johnny]

Maybe I just have more patience than you

Oh this is a definate .... I even got stressed at the microwave last night becuase the 2 minutes to steam some brocolli wasnt going quick enough

[Monkey]

So when you go shopping for other things, food, clothes, the other half drags you out etc ... basically what ever reason you find yourself in a Mall or down the highstreet.

At the moment you pop in to Game or HMV or basically any part of a shop that sells dvds / games / music. .. Look at what they have .. and think .. fcuk that its cheaper on line, I'll buy it there.

now you can get it while you are out ... saves you waiting for it

waiting for stuff has never really bother me that much, but yes, i will say that i do buy games, DVD's etc in shops, but only on the special offers or secondhand.

but my circumstances are different, as i work in a village out side of Southampton, and my G/F works in Southampton Town Centre, so if i want anything i ask her to get it for me when she pops out too lunch if i cant get it online cheaper.

the shops that will benifit from this are the supermarkets. thinking about it, they can afford to reduce the prices of games, DVD's etc as loss leaders, and for the convienence of buying my food, clothes and entertainment all on one go for the month.

[Mark]

Looking at the big picture its probably a good thing Places like play could probably swallow the VAT anyway as they have less overheads than the likes of HMV. I generally buys games from Game and are 9 times out of 10 preowned and DVD's and CD's come from Tesco so i get the clubcard points

Its only around a quid per item more if you use the likes of Play if they do put the prices up but it should generate a lot of cash to put back in the coffers and highstreet shops might get a bit more trade out it

End of the day these are luxuries so you cant really complain IMO, its not like they have decided to start charging VAT on food or kids cloths

[Rude Dog]

End of the day these are luxuries so you cant really complain IMO, its not like they have decided to start charging VAT on food or kids cloths

You do realise that you pay VAT on some food don't you? The more processed it is the more Vat you pay

[Draven]

the last couple of CD's and DVD/BluRay's i've bought have been from HMV, Tesco and Asda.

admittedly in Barrow there is very little to get you to the high street, there isnt a single shop left that sells music for example, there is however still a game and a gamestation but games is one thing i buy online typically from play or amazon, that said i have also been making more use of steam with digital distribution and the only reason i didnt use digital distribution purchase for WOW cataclysm was because i wanted the collectors edition and the digital purchase was more than the physical product.

actually, thinking about it, i have bought more games from tesco/asda than i have from game/gamestation as they tend to do better offers on new releases, random super cheap deals on some titles plus the odd random spur of the moment purchase, which typically is decided by a quick google on my smartphone (brand non-descriptive to keep it generic) to check online prices and that the price isnt unreasonable.

buying films and music from the likes of tesco and asda, typically there is a maximum of £2 difference between one of them and play/amazon, when the order doesnt meet their free postage requirements there goes the price advantage, also, post that looks interesting has a tendency to go missing round these parts.

I have also had the joys of my xbox getting knocked whilst playing a brand new game, i just ran it back to asda and said it doesnt play can i try another disk, 2 minutes later i was walking out the store with a replacement

[Mark]

You do realise that you pay VAT on some food don't you? The more processed it is the more Vat you pay

Yer its generally what they class as 'luxury food' like biscuits, chocolate etc. You dont pay it on everyday items like bread, milk, veg, meat etc.

[Johnny]

I bet when they first put VAT on Biscuits everyone complained and made spurious claims that everyone would become malnurished and cornershops would all go under

[McRearout]

I can't remember the last time I bought a DVD/Blu-Ray.

Lovefilm FTW.

CD's? I rarely buy them, but when I do buy an album I really want I won't begrudge paying an extra quid for it, seeing as they're cheaper to buy now than they were 10 years ago.

I buy my Xbox games from the shop because I don't trust the internetz with my money and want everything I pay for instantly!

[endisforever]

i very very rarly buy games and dvds anymore since joining lovefilm. you can get everything and keep it as long as you like. so there is no need to buy them especially games becuase you just finish them and shelve it or trade it for half what you paid or less.

£14 a month i can get unlimeted rentals of games and dvd at 2 discs at a time.

i would advise anyone who spends a lot on games dvds to at least look at it to dave money

i must of saved 100s of pounds using love film over buying games alone.

i buy music for bands that i really like and want to support. chart music i really have no intrest in so i never buy cds

[Silane]

I really don't think it'll have that big an impact on people buying games, DVDs etc for the majority of the market.

As already mentioned, if people can't afford it then they will just have to go without or buy used games, that's what I do sometimes if I can't be bothered to spend £40 on a game.

[schumi84]

So when you go shopping for other things, food, clothes, the other half drags you out etc ... basically what ever reason you find yourself in a Mall or down the highstreet.

At the moment you pop in to Game or HMV or basically any part of a shop that sells dvds / games / music. .. Look at what they have .. and think .. fcuk that its cheaper on line, I'll buy it there.

now you can get it while you are out ... saves you waiting for it

This is my view on it, however if i'm out just for the sake of it and i see something i like in Game, HMV etc, in the past i would get it, but now i will 99% of the time think no, i shall check online just in case it is cheaper.

I suppose that is good in a way for impulse buying and saving a bit of money

[George]

There seems to be a few different views on this due to people's shopping habits.

I haven't bought anything from an actual real life shop in years other than consumables from Tescos. I just do all my shopping online as it's far easier and it usually comes next day anyway.

With the advent of love film, amazon and itunes etc... the high street record shops were on their way out anyway. I don't think that the new VAT laws will help them, it might show a small increase in impulse buys but that's not going to keep the wolf from the door.

None of this is a long term fix for the economy anyway, it doesn't actually generate any income for the UK, it's just circular money that will be given back to us through government investments after they've spent some of it on doing the paperwork.

[docwra]

What the government dont seem to realise is that with all the extra taxes they are making and charging us simply means the end user has less to spend. Less spent ultimately equals less tax revenue. Do they honestly believe that they will actually generate more money?

If I had a business currently in a British "tax haven" and the government said to me you can't do this any more I'd just move to Ireland (for example, no idea if their VAT is lower than the UK) or something where although you're still liable for tax its at a much lower rate and part of the EU therefore avoiding import taxes.

Your grasp on economics is overly simplistic mate, thats not how things work at all.

In the first example, people have less disposable income available because their staple spending (mortgage, food, fuel, heating, clothing etc.) is subject to more tax, tax that is paid to the government. The government are still getting more tax revenue despite the fact they are buying less computer games and beer.
You are also just using the example of the man in the street, bear in mind businesses pay VAT as well.

Its not practical just to move a business whenever you feel like it either, and there isnt anywhere left to move it to - you have to pay VAT pretty much everywhere in Europe. The bigger picture is that even if you can save on VAT your liabilities for personal tax, corporation tax, social security, pensions, church tax, chancel tax, canton tax and anything else you want may well (in fact in the case of Europe, definitely will) outweigh any benefit you get from exiting the UK.

The increase in VAT is a good thing as far as Im concerned, if you are really telling me 25p on £10 is enough to make you not buy soemthing then you need to start shopping at Alsi.

[George]

The increase in VAT is a good thing as far as Im concerned, if you are really telling me 25p on £10 is enough to make you not buy soemthing then you need to start shopping at Alsi.

That's just the increase though, it's £2 on every ten which adds up.

Hypothetically, if the man on the street want's his fancy wheels refurbished and it will cost him £360 for a sw*nky factory finish, or he could pay cash and get it for £300. How much revenue does the government get from that deal?

I'm not saying that would ever happen, but you've got to admit that the temptation is getting greater the more they increase the VAT percentage. I'm aware that this kind of thing may go on in the building, electricians, plumbers, mechanics trade etc...

So it has to be asked, by increasing VAT are they actually going to generate more revenue or just push more and more people into the seedy world of 'homers'?

[docwra]

Hypothetically, if the man on the street want's his fancy wheels refurbished and it will cost him £360 for a sw*nky factory finish, or he could pay cash and get it for £300. How much revenue does the government get from that deal?

But how much are we looking at for those cash sales in a year? A week of Tescos turnover perhaps??

Im always takes the cash price, I run a business and I hate the VATman as much as anyone so getting one over on him is always good but same applies as my previous answer - the loss will be another 2.5% on top of whatever the usual yearly loss for cash payments is, but the income from fuel, ciggies, shopping and all the other stuff you cant buy in cash is going to be 14.28% greater.

[Rude Dog]

Your grasp on economics is overly simplistic mate, thats not how things work at all.

Yes it is Doc. But I hear of all of these companies operating in the UK (I'm sorry I can't tell you who as when the news is on in this house its background noise and I don't pick up a lot of it) and banks getting around paying various taxes because they're foreign companies at their heart then I don't see why British companies, currently exploiting loopholes, won't do the same, but in reverse?
Is the UK the only country in Europe to offer tax concessions, or loopholes, to foreign companies or would these European countries offer the same tax breaks to get UK companies operating in their country and therefore getting more people working over there?

I'm not thick, honest, its just I don't have a great grasp of economics

Also the comment about where I shop. If I want something, whether its a video game, book, pair of trainers or a kilogram of mince, I decide what I want and then find the cheapest retailer, online or on the street. Its quite simple in that respect. What makes me laugh is people turn their nose up at Lidl and Aldi but the bulk of their food is as good as Tesco or Asda, etc but its cheaper. Go on the continent and these shops are their Tesco's and Asda's. We do our food shopping at Asda, Lidl, Aldi and Farmfoods. We spend less now on food and than we did when we were/the wife was working and we eat as well if not better now. Luxury items (anything that isn't food or clothes) are now luxuries and have to be saved for or not bought.
We are spending less on everything, so effectively the government aren't really getting much more out of us.
We have only one car on the road now, as we can't afford to tax, MOT and insure 2 so again the governments lost out.

So if people are spending less and less and less, earning less and less and less due to pay cuts and high inflation, how are the government making more money out of us

[30psi]

The increase in VAT is a net increase of 2.1%. If I were to estimate with my expenditure, the VAT increase accounts for about £15 a month.

I now use a different toilet paper and I can easily save the difference.

And my arse isn't sore.

[30psi]

is going to be 14.28% greater.

Eh