Comments by "Mat Broomfield" (@matbroomfield) on "ANALYSIS: Value Added Tax" video.

  1. It only works well in your opinion because you don't understand its impact. Adding 15% to every item of food is painful to those already near the poverty line.
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  2. VAT is dreadful. Take it from a Brit who suffers from it. Everything I buy for business, I then have to add 20% and that is a MASSIVE factor in whether or not I buy. I cannot always pass that on to my customers because competitors are importing from China and not adding VAT. Also, the government uses it for behaviour modification - charging more for fuel, tobacco, alcohol, etc. Also, doing VAT returns is a real pain, and because VAT is collected from customers BEFORE you do your taxes, the government is absolutely draconian in its collection methods. And finally, more money for the government is always pissed away, never spent wisely. In America's case, it'll go on tax cuts for the wealthy and the military.
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  3.  @SteinarHusby  We have basic income in the UK and a lower VAT rate, but poverty is still at record highs. VAT is a regressive tax and hurts the poorest most, no matter what other systems are in place.
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  4.  @SteinarHusby  I appreciate that VAT doesn't exist in a vaccuum but rather amidst a basket of other potential solutions, but in the UK, those solutions are not explored. Indeed our welfare program has recently become so hash that thousands have been committing suicide or dying. It's fine to say "well let's make the overall package beneficial" but there has to be both political and social will to do so. Regrettably, in Britain, welfare is a bad word and we have been educated to see all recipients as scroungers, rather than the people any of us could become. You do make some excellent points Steinar. I just fear Britain is too entrenched in media-led regressive thinking to take them onboard.
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  5.  @cyberash3000  I don't earn enough to claim VAT back so I pay it as though I was a member of the public. What's a pib?
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  6.  @cyberash3000  Not registering means I can't clainm it back. I still pay it on every purchase.
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  7.  @ubuu7  Except for a small business or an individual it adds 20% or more to every purchase, so can be a deciding factor because I cannot claim that back from the government.
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