Martin Vander Weyer’s Any Other Business
I wrote here in February that I did not believe the Conservatives’ pretence of having ‘absolutely no plans to increase VAT’, and that, having examined this fiercely complex issue at some length with an ice pack on my head, I had come down in favour of a VAT rise — as indeed had the experts at the Institute of Directors, who wrote: ‘The VAT rate should be increased to 20 per cent, in order to allow for more substantial and rapid tax reductions elsewhere than would otherwise be possible.’ That has now come to pass, and despite the howls of protest in the House of Commons when the Chancellor announced it, I’m sticking to my guns. The increase will in many cases be disguised either by retailers’ discounts or by rising import prices as a result of the weaker pound; it is in line with the European VAT average, and it’s a simple way of collecting an extra £11 billion a year in tax revenue now, rising to £13 billion (on the Chancellor’s figures) by the end of the parliament. So let’s not get hot under the collar about the VAT rise: there were many more items to argue about in a Budget that was nothing if not courageously frank.
And broadly speaking, the news for the business community — apart from the banks — was positive. Indeed, I’m already feeling the urge to set up a new enterprise, to take advantage of plans to reduce both the smaller companies’ tax rate and the National Insurance cost of hiring new and lower-paid workers. What with talk of a regional growth fund and cheaper petrol (though I’ll believe that one when I see it) for remote rural areas, plus special encouragement for tourism ventures, I’m thinking of converting my North Yorkshire home into a theme park.
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