It's been a while since I've felt even slightly inspired to write my blog. There's usually something in the world of VAT or something business related that gets my blogging juices going, but since Christmas I've been struggling to feel inspired at all. I'm a bit stuck to get out and do much as my car isn't in the best of health and I'm waiting to get it booked in for its service and repairs. Various other things are also holding me up and I can't really do much to move them along. I think I'm past the frustrated and angry phase but I am hoping that there will be some significant progress this week and I can get on with things again.
In the meantime, a recent headline in the FT made my eyebrows raise ever so slightly. It concerned a prediction by one of the accountancy firms that the VAT rate could rise to 20% this year, generating £12bn for the Treasury whilst at the same time keeping our standard rate one of the lowest in the EC.
Now these predictions come along every few months, they fill a couple of column inches and get a bit of free publicity for the accountant in question. And one day, I guess that the prediction will come true, although not until after the election. Raising the standard rate of VAT is a very easy way of raising revenue and you can't blame a Chancellor the temptation of that additional revenue which arises by a one line piece of legislation, especially when the economy is still stuck in recession. Of course there would be a huge political battle about it all and everyone would assume that VAT consultants would be inundated by extra work (and hence much more fee income!) as a result.
In reality, it would make a bit of a difference but not a lot. The most important thing about VAT is that it is a transaction tax which affects each and every one of us as individuals every time we spend our own money or everytime we sell goods or services in our business capacity. The one thing that's always struck me over the years about VAT is the old proverb that "the more things change, the more they stay the same".. A few years ago I took a couple of years off work and expected that I'd feel totally out of date when I got back. And there were changes in the workplace, but they mostly related to the increased use of technology in the business rather than the business of advising clients about VAT issues. After a few weeks I had almost forgotten that I'd even had any time off.
I'm not saying that there aren't changes in the way VAT consultants work. In the 1990s the emphasis was on coming up with clever ways to reduce clients' VAT bills which nowdays are classed as avoidance. Now that we're well into the 21st century, the emphasis is more on the nature of trading within a global economy and keeping pace with changes in the way that people do business.
So it's not always easy to find inspiration about VAT for this VATBlog which is why I haven't blogged very much recently. Maybe I'll go back to blogging about space and more exciting subjects so at least I can feel inspired to blog more often.
Anyway I hope you're all back to normal after the snow and stuff and getting some inspiration from somewhere!
Marie