14 Creative ways to beat Gideons VAT raise...

1. Insulate your home – insulation materials are charged at a discounted 5%. Stick it to the man by lagging your loft this winter.
   
2. Choose your pets wisely – VAT is paid on pet food for cats, dogs, hamsters, ferrets and guinea pigs, but not on feed for chickens or rabbits.
   
3. Stop smoking – Nicotine patches enjoy a discounted rate of VAT, while cigarettes are loaded with extra taxes.
   
4. Take a bath – it’s good to save water, but it’s also good to luxuriate in the knowledge that your bathwater is untaxed.
   
5. Buy a caravan – invest in a lifetime of VAT-free vacation. Just make sure the caravan is over 7 metres long, or it doesn’t count.
   
6. Eat fresh – generally speaking, fresh fruit, vegetables and meat are zero rated, while many processed foods are taxed. And learn to cook – VAT is levied on catering and eating out.
   
7. Buy secondhand – VAT only applies to new goods – outsmart the tories in a secondhand suit.
   
8. Take the biscuit – if the chips in your chocolate chip cookies are mixed into the dough, they are VAT exempt. If the cookies are decorated with chocolate chips on the surface, VAT applies. If you want to know the logic of this, I can only suggest you write to Gideon Osborne.
   
9. Read more – laugh in the face of tax rises by buying books, magazines and newspapers.
   
10. Navigate old school – VAT is levied on SAT nav systems, but not on maps.
    
11. Gamble more – Best ignore this one perhaps, but gambling, bingo and the lottery are tax exempt.
    
12. Get a scooter – if you’re after a new car, consider a mobility scooter instead, and out-run Osborne with VAT exempt transport.
    
13. Travel by helicopter – good news! Both the sale and hiring of helicopters are VAT exempt.
    
14. Wear children’s clothes – if you’re small, beat the taxman by shopping in the children’s section.
    

Badger wrote:Navigate old school – VAT is levied on SAT nav systems, but not on maps.

Badger wrote:
[*]Take the biscuit – if the chips in your chocolate chip cookies are mixed into the dough, they are VAT exempt. If the cookies are decorated with chocolate chips on the surface, VAT applies. If you want to know the logic of this, I can only suggest you write to Gideon Osborne.

Chilli-head wrote:Or if you use a Sat Nav, and are not a US citizen, rest contented in the fact that you are freeloading on the US taxpayer, who has bourne the extraordinary cost of the hardware you are using.