Hey uplock. VAT ain't too bad, they say. They take away the customs duty and replace it by VAT, saying that the articles themselves stay at the same price.
The customs duty was payed by the retailer, he will no longer have to, VAT is payed by the customer, he will continue to pay the same, the gov will gat VAT, so it's cost neutral..........
What WILL effectively happen:
Everything of the above, but the retailer will ADD VAT to the product thinking he is perfectly entitled to, as this is a new tax, he pretends.
So: Gov happy, same revenue, customer pi$$ed, 5% increase, retailer more than happy, 5% in his greedy pocket.
Cost neutrality a la ME.