Europe's VAT Trap!
Morning everyone. Reading my paper this morning I came across this letter from a reader,which I would like to share with you. (one can find out some really interesting facts from the Letters page).
It rather surprised me. I can recall when the EU was calling for such measures to be put into place, the British public were having none of it!. This letter seems to put things more in perspective and is certainly something that I feel the Scottish electorate should be made fully aware of, if and when Nicola has her way and a 2nd referendum on Independence comes about. Here below is the letter. Please give your views on this as I fully admit I personally was completely unaware of it…
QUOTE
Europe’s VAT Trap
The minimum rate of VAT chargeable by any EU member is 5 per cent.
When we joined the EEC (as it was then), it was thought that levying five per cent on food, children’s clothes, books and new houses was too great a price to pay by the British people for membership, so the UK was given a derogation allowing zero-rating of those items.
This exemption had to be renewed every ten years, and has been on four occasions - at what cost to our government in terms of concessions in return is unknown.
Since we joined Brussels in 1973, such a derogation hasn’t been given to any new EU state. There is no chance of it being given to Scotland if the Scots were to apply for membership as a separate nation.
If Nicola Sturgeon presents another independence referendum to the Scottish people, how many would vote YES in the knowledge that their food, children’s clothes, books and new houses would suddenly increase in price by five per cent?.
UNQUOTE