Who is passing on the VAT Rate Cut? A "Name and Shame" Thread

A question about : Who is passing on the VAT Rate Cut? A "Name and Shame" Thread

OK, so who's being good boys and girls and reducing prices because of the VAT cut, and who's being a bad egg by pocketing the difference?

Maybe we can get a list going here... I'll start with a few:

The Goodies
Telecoms
BT - Will be cutting line rental accordingly and issuing refunds if line rental already prepaid
Plusnet - Will be cutting subscription costs from 1st December
O2 - Will be passing on VAT rate cuts from next week, and will issue refunds on request of the difference on more expensive line rental already paid in advance
Electricals
Currys - Currently showing pre-cut prices on shelf, but discounting by 2.5% at the till with immediate effect
Department Stores
John Lewis - Will pass on the cuts (thanks pdotie for info)
Supermarkets
Lidl - Will reduce all affected prices on 1st December. Will also reduce non-VAT-rated baby items by 2.5%. (thanks davy_fulla for info)
The Baddies
High Street Stores
Poundland - Will keep prices at Ј1 per item for customer simplicity
Got more? Post them and I'll add them to the list

Best answers:

• John Lewis have said they will pass on the cut
• Added to list. Keep em coming!
• I've recently started working as an area manager with Lidl. We've been told we have to come into work on Sunday to reduce all the VAT affected prices. A further plus is that baby items (not subject to VAT) will also be reduced by 2.5%
• Thanks for that one davy_fulla
• Tesco have said that they will be passing on the cut in VAT.
• DFS are not passing on the vat cut, i went into a store on friday 21st to order a new sofa and the sales assistant told me off the record to wait until monday and the price will be cut from Ј799 to Ј729 which it was so i went back to the store on the following tuesday 25th asked about the additional 2.5% cut they told me the reduction included the vat cut. so DFS can see into the future now, should of asked for the lottery numbers.
• Dont forget that it is only a cut of 2.5% from the VAT - dont expect everything to be 2.5% cheaper. It works out at about Ј1.85 in the Ј100.00
• In defence of some very small retailers, if they are on the "fixed rate scheme" for VAT, they are being expected to pass on a 2.5% cut in VAT, when what they pay to HM Customs and Excise has only been dropped (in some cases) by half a percent.
  Am not in retail, but handle the VAT for my brother's company which uses the fixed rate scheme, and basically his company's (net of VAT) earnings are now 0.45% lower (his VAT bill dropped by 1.5% of GROSS earnings).
  "Fixed Rate Scheme" is only for companies with small turnovers. Believe it is intended to reduce paperwork and simplify returns for one-man (or small family) operations.
• Is the fixed rate scheme above 15%. If it isn't those retailers do not actually lose out.
  For example if your brother pays VAT on purchases at 13% and collects VAT on sales at 17.5%, he pays over to HMRC the difference between the VAT collected (17.5%) less the VAT he himslef had to pay (13%).
  A reduction of 0.5% means he would now pay HMRC the difference between VAT collected from sales of 15% less VAT paid out himself 12.5%, ie overall he will be in the same position.
• The idea of the fixed rate scheme is that you don't have to claim the VAT back for every little item. in fact it's only single capital items over about Ј2,000 he gets to claim VAT back on.
  He pays a percentage of gross (including VAT) decided by HM C&E depending on the type of business.
  In my brother's case it's an IT consultancy, so he used to pay 13% (of 117.5%). From Monday he will pay 11.5% (of 115%). His GROSS receipts will drop, but what HMC&E expect him to pay them has dropped less.
  Means he's actually worse off.
  For every Ј100 + VAT he earns, he loses 45 pence compared to what he netted on the old rate.
  Still makes more sense than keeping receipts for every paperclip and claiming back the VAT. (and paying for the accountant to sort through it all)
  Believe that's why the scheme was brought in for "very small" businesses.
  Some small retailers have had their rate drop even less, so are even worse off with the new "cut".
  Don't be surprised if your local corner shopkeeper looks at you funny if you ask why he hasn't "passed on" the full 2.5% VAT cut.
• Any company who bills you nett plus vat you will see the lower vat rate .
  Any company who sells goods including vat , you may or may not see a decrease , and those items you dont see decrease may be for a very good reason , tbh the amount of posts / comments i have seen where people expect a decrease of 2.5% on everything they buy makes me despair at some peoples basic grasp of economics
• According to the HMRC website the flat rate will be changed accordingly, so anyone on the flat rate scheme will be in teh same position as they were before (i.e. able to reduce by the same amount if they wish)
• Agreed. What they also do not realise is that although fuel duties and car tax has risen we still get paid the same pence per mile claim back for car use that we did 5 years ago!!
  From a retailers side, the extra profit 'in their pocket' could be the difference in losing jobs or their business. Look at Woolworths and MFI - who saw that coming. Would they be baddies if they did not reduce thir VAT because they wanted people to hold onto their jobs if they could. It was interesting to see that held out until after this mini tax con budget to see if the government would give them any help whatsoever. Clearly they didn't.
  At this moment in time we should just accept things as they are. I do not see any goodies or baddies here, a Ј25 on VATable items shop in Tesco will save me 50p if they reduced their prices, I am not moaning about that as there are bigger things going on.
  I'll still do the same as I do now, I can go to the shops above and find that prices are 15% less on Amazon so I buy from them, a 20p cut on a toaster is not going to get me buying another as I do not need one. Even if I needed a new cooker it'd save me just Ј10 or so - I can get more than that by shopping around anyway.
  I am astounded that there is a 'name and shame' thread in all honesty. You should be supporting businesses and their descisions, it has little to do with greed as there is hardly anything to be greedy about, but if it helps keep a companies head above water and people out of unemplyment then we should be supporting those companies.
  We talk about companies greed but what about consumer greed? When there has been a price or voucher glitch on something posted on grabbit and people have not been sure whether their orders have gone through so have called the company concerned, they have subject to all sorts of abuse because they have bought the glitch to the retailers attention. I would feel ashamed if my greed to buy things that I probably do not need but that I am buying as an 'extra luxury' to my household meant a company went under and people lost their jobs.
  Of course, any extra discount is a bonus but we should be hoping that we can ALL get through these difficult times - employer, employee, consumer - as none can survive without the other - with our jobs intact rather than 'naming and shaming' retailers who do not reduce the price of a toaster by 20p.
  Out of interest - the people who are naming and shaming (DFS poster excluded, LOL) did you actually have any intention of buying from these retailers or are you 'naming and shaming' to stop people from buying from these retailers and helping other people into the dole queue when they have to close. Serious question.
  No amount of naming and shaming will not stop me doing what I do now, shopping around to get the best price!! Some retailers who do not drop prices at all might still be cheaper than those that do so this thread is completely pointless IMO!! I think people need to get a grip on themselves and work out just what they will actiually be saving instead of getting excited and thinking they suddenly have enough for a Carribean break next summer on the savings they are going to make out of this!!
• I wish I could have pressed "thanks" a few more times blue_monkey; what a ridiculous, unfair and rather uneducated thread - OP, I too question your motive for this thread.