VATMAN and Robbin'
Until this week I had accepted without question our country's relatively high rate of VAT as an inevitable part of the coalition government's vital drive to get on top of our shocking, and still spiralling, national debt. That was before I had listened to the case for a lower rate specifically for accommodation as argued by the British Hospitality Association (BHA).
Most other countries in Europe have a lower rate of tax than we do on accommodation. This means we are comparatively expensive and therefore less competitive. A lower rate for hotels and other lodging here would enable prices to fall and we could then attract more customers, doing more business with our suppliers and employing more staff along the way. This is a "win win" for the economy and would get us closer to achieving the Prime Minister's ambition to see the UK move up the ranking as a tourist destination and close the gap between what foreign visitors spend here and what we spend abroad. Critically, it would almost certainly increase the amount of tax collected from the hospitality industry whilst getting unemployed young people into work.
I support our government's deficit reduction programme and hope ministers can be persuaded that a lower rate of VAT on accommodation would actually help us all.