DID YOU
KNOW that Britain is one of the few EC members without VAT on a
range of essential items? These include:
In 1977, the Labour Government caved in to the EC and agreed that Britains zero-rating for these items was only temporary. (The last VAT review in 1998 maintained this stay of execution). The Daily Telegraph (22.4.97) reported that the EC regarded lower-rate VAT on fuel as a temporary step towards full-rate VAT.
Writing in Taxation (5.3.98), Francesca Lagerberg ACA wrote that VAT-exempt
financial and insurance services are also at risk. She pointed out how mortgage
interest and deposit accounts might be affected.
THE ECs PLANS
EC document COM(96)328, produced in July 1996, reveals a lot about the
Commissions plans for VAT harmonisation
THE ECs POWERS
Under the terms of our EC membership, the Commission can make its own
absolute rulings (decisions or regulations). Britain
does not have a veto over rulings passed under distortion of competition
('Maastricht', Art. 3(g)).
The abolition of our rights to duty free shopping shows that the EC is serious about using its powers. We are moving fast towards being absorbed into "a country called Europe".
Tough luck on the worst off sections of society, such as pensioners and the lower-paid!
|For the New Alliance Index Page| |Back to New Alliance Home Page| |
This page updated: 11 January 2000; link updated: 26 December 2005