Vat increase rant

[Whittler Kev]

Bought some more steel today . It surprised me how much dearer the basic raw materials have become :yikes:. I queried the cost and was told that the steel was the same price, as was the delivery - not sure how much longer this will be though with diesel and therefore, transport cost rising from the steel mills and the wholesaler. The price hike was because the total price had a 2.5% increase on it due to the recent vat increase.

Made me start wondering about everything else I buy for the forge - gas, welding wire, welding gas, emery paper, cutting disc's, grinding disc's, etc, etc. It must add up to a lot when you add it all up.

What happens now? As makers, do we pass the increase onto our customers or just make our small profits even smaller . It's no wonder all the cottage industry's are going to the wall!

(Mods- As a maker I put my rant here. If you think it should be elsewhere, please move it).

 

[Kerne]

The total price should not have gone up by 2.5%. This is bad maths on the part of the company. The price before VAT should have gone up by 20%. For example £10 + 17.5% VAT = £11.75. 2.5% of 11.75 = 29p making the total £12.04. BUT 20% of £10 is £2, making the total £12. Only 4p difference but how many 4p's are there in the millions we are spending?

(Rough calculations - happy to be corrected by any proper mathematicians )

 

[Shewie]

I hear you Kev

It's the petrol prices that really hurt me these days. I can't keep putting £60 into my car twice a week and I'm sure a lot of other people are the same too. It's going to be over £1.50 a litre by summer without a doubt.

 

[Whittler Kev]

Your right of course. I just simplified it for....simplicity?uppy_dog

£50 before vat means:
it was £8.75 vat added on @17.5%
it is now£10.00 @20%
an increase of £1.25 (sorry the maths teacher just came out in me again)

The annoying bit is everything else is going up as well due to the extra fuel costs getting it from the manufacturer to the wholesaler. It means my original £50 bill will rise to £51.25 or £61.50 with the vat instead of £58.75 - a £2.75 hike without the extra diesel costs the suppliers will soon be adding on
It's a vicious circle with makers and their customers becoming the losers

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Im moving house over the next few weeks, 360 mile round trip a fair bit of diesel ouch, but doing it are selfs works out cheaper and logistically less stress full.

 

[Whittler Kev]

I hear you Kev

It's the petrol prices that really hurt me these days. I can't keep putting £60 into my car twice a week and I'm sure a lot of other people are the same too. It's going to be over £1.50 a litre by summer without a doubt.

I'll have to do some man knitting for you (I did see your comment on the weaving link about your trivet ), put a hook on the end and you can get a tow from the Car in front, or get your skateboard out and do a "Back to The Future" stunt. Can you canoe to work?
Seriously, my new job means 60 mile round trip a day. With the other little bits I do it means £45 a week diesel bill.
Anyone got any chip shop oil I can convert into diesel:yikes:

 

[Teepee]

Wood powered car anyone? We can whittle our own fuel!

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It doesn't look like it handles like a Kart though.....

 

[Harvestman]

The other bit that annoys me is when people hike the price way over the odds, and then say things like, "Well, fuel is up 2.5%, and so is heating, so is delivery, so is whatever, so that's a total of a 10% hike in cost". No it isn't. it's a 2.5% increase. Percentages can't be added like that. It is like saying I drank 2 bottles of 4% strength beer, so that's 8% in total.

This happened to me yesterday, so I'm still raw about it.

 

[nuggets]

yup !!!!! 20p on the pound -£2 on a tenner -£20 on a hundred- £200 on a grand !!!!!!! not forgetting fuel tax !! road tax!! smokers tax!! beer tax !! council tax!! They might only tax me 20% of my `income` - but boy the amount they get back when i spend my earnings is just pure extortion !!!!!

 

[kawasemi]

When we all stop buying because we can't afford the luxuries that the government want us to buy to shore up British business...and Britain goes bust may be someone will sit up and listen while we all shout

TOLD YOU SO!!!

kawasemi

 

[Graham_S]

I'm closing this.

This definitely comes under Politics

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