We the undersigned... remove VAT on bicycles.

Gareth Dawson said:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Encourage people to
cycle by removing VAT on bicycles, tricycles and human powered
vehicles and on all cycling parts and spares

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Improve the efficiency
of government by going a whole year without passing any micromanaging,
populist, pandering-to-the-minority,
doubtless-to-be-rejigged-the-minute-the-system-actually-adapts-to-them
acts of parliament or departmental regulations and instead commit to
following through on long distance aims, set by the relevant ministers
as part of good cabinet government, and allow for the rebuke of
ministers for changing the goalposts or setting of targets which fail to
account for the actual quality of life improvement delivered.

Not actually registered as a petition yet, and no direct insult to the
abovementioned petition although I very strenuously disagree that anyone
owes cyclists a living, more a point about my dissatisfaction with the
running of this country.

--
A

"Gareth Dawson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Encourage people to
cycle by removing VAT on bicycles, tricycles and human powered
vehicles and on all cycling parts and spares

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/NoVATonBikes/

Could make cycling an even cheaper option.

Gareth

As if......

I'm very sceptical about the worth of any online petition and if the
government appear to be scoffing at the views of 1.2 million plus
signatories to the road charging petition what hope do cyclists have of
getting VAT removed from cycles?

I remember a campaign to get VAT removed from Tampons and other sanitary
products from my days as an undergraduate in the late seventies. Gordon
Brown only got around to reducing to 5% it in 2000 so don't hold your breath
waiting for a reduction and remember that these were essential products, not
luxuries used by a sinificant proportion of the population.

There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent anyway
as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT categories.

Ambrose Nankivell said:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Improve the efficiency
of government by going a whole year without passing any micromanaging,
populist, pandering-to-the-minority,
doubtless-to-be-rejigged-the-minute-the-system-actually-adapts-to-them
acts of parliament or departmental regulations [...]

Gets my vote. Not that I ever see it happening, though

(And it's not just the current incumbents either. Who remembers the
Dangerous Dogs Act?)

-dan

--
http://www.coruskate.net/

vernon said the following on 13/02/2007 17:10:

Quoted message said:

There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent anyway
as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT categories.

Who is then?

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

"Paul Boyd" <usenet.dont.work@plusnet> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

vernon said the following on 13/02/2007 17:10:

Quoted message said:

There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent
anyway as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT
categories.

Who is then?

Dunno but no member counry of the EEC can introduce new zero rates.

vernon said:

"Gareth Dawson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/NoVATonBikes/

Could make cycling an even cheaper option.

Quoted message said:

I remember a campaign to get VAT removed from Tampons and other sanitary
products from my days as an undergraduate in the late seventies. Gordon
Brown only got around to reducing to 5% it in 2000 so don't hold your breath
waiting for a reduction and remember that these were essential products, not
luxuries used by a sinificant proportion of the population.

Cycling shorts made from Always Ultra? I guess handlebar grips and
bar-ends could also be concealed at 5% VAT too?

Daniel Barlow said:

Ambrose Nankivell said:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Improve the efficiency
of government by going a whole year without passing any micromanaging,
populist, pandering-to-the-minority,
doubtless-to-be-rejigged-the-minute-the-system-actually-adapts-to-them
acts of parliament or departmental regulations [...]

Gets my vote. Not that I ever see it happening, though

(And it's not just the current incumbents either. Who remembers the
Dangerous Dogs Act?)

I think you're remembering something that's happening in 6 month's time
as well, by the looks of things. 😉

I might well put up that petition if I can make it punchy.
--
A

Paul Boyd <usenet.dont.work@plusnet> of Customer of PlusNet plc

(urlhttp://www.plus.net/url) said:

vernon said the following on 13/02/2007 17:10:

Quoted message said:

There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent anyway
as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT categories.

Who is then?

The EC as a whole has a list of categories that can be zero-rated if
countries wish to. That list is for all practical purposes fixed, because
it would be impossible to get all the member states to agree to an addition.
The traditional way round this is to have more than one rate and apply a
very low rate to things a state would like to zero rate.
--
Steph Peters
Chorlton Wanderers Cycling Group
Monthly slow and easy rides from South Manchester
http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/cycling/chwan.htm

vernon wrote on 13/02/2007 17:50 +0100:

Quoted message said:

"Paul Boyd" <usenet.dont.work@plusnet> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

vernon said the following on 13/02/2007 17:10:

Quoted message said:

There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent
anyway as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT
categories.

Who is then?

Dunno but no member counry of the EEC can introduce new zero rates.

But if they were those carrot fibre bikes you could classify them as
food which is zero rated ;-)

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Steph Peters said:

Paul Boyd <usenet.dont.work@plusnet> of Customer of PlusNet plc

(urlhttp://www.plus.net/url) said:

vernon said the following on 13/02/2007 17:10:

Quoted message said:

There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent
anyway as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT
categories.

Who is then?

The EC as a whole has a list of categories that can be zero-rated if
countries wish to. That list is for all practical purposes fixed,
because it would be impossible to get all the member states to agree
to an addition. The traditional way round this is to have more than
one rate and apply a very low rate to things a state would like to
zero rate.

Not quite.
The 5% rate has a list of things permitted within the EU, and that's the
list which is impossible to change for the reason quoted. Countries may
charge any rate between 5% and 15% for items on that list, but may only set
two rates.

The 0% rate is a special historical temporary arrangement for the UK and
Ireland. I think that "temporary" is almost infinitely long if the UK
government chooses it to be (and ditto for the Irish government). If the
government takes an item out of the zero band, it cannot put it back (hence
household heating, which one government put under full VAT was reduced to 5%
by this government, not zero as it was not permitted to go back to zero)

The standard rate is at least 15%. In practise its between 15% and 25%
depending on country and item in question.

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/index_en.htm

- Nigel

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

vernon wrote on 13/02/2007 17:50 +0100:

Quoted message said:

"Paul Boyd" <usenet.dont.work@plusnet> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

vernon said the following on 13/02/2007 17:10:

> There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent
> anyway as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT
> categories.
Who is then?

Dunno but no member counry of the EEC can introduce new zero rates.

But if they were those carrot fibre bikes you could classify them as food
which is zero rated ;-)

Now there's a thought, integral bonk rations ;-)

vernon said:

"Gareth Dawson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent anyway
as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT categories.

Huh?

Citation please.

"raisethe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

vernon said:

"Gareth Dawson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent
anyway
as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT categories.

Huh?

Citation please.

Google for zero VAT rating and you'll eventually turn up the details on a
treasury or government web site.

Trust me. I'm a teacher ;-)

-=V=-

raisethe said:

vernon said:

"Gareth Dawson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent
anyway as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT
categories.

Huh?

Citation please.

My postings on this thread will give you a good start., including EU
documentation.

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:57:57 GMT, Ambrose Nankivell
<[email hidden]> said in
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Improve the efficiency
of government by going a whole year without passing any micromanaging,
populist, pandering-to-the-minority,
doubtless-to-be-rejigged-the-minute-the-system-actually-adapts-to-them
acts of parliament or departmental regulations and instead commit to
following through on long distance aims, set by the relevant ministers
as part of good cabinet government, and allow for the rebuke of
ministers for changing the goalposts or setting of targets which fail to
account for the actual quality of life improvement delivered.

Or: We the undersigned will slap the government with a wet trout if
they so much as think of solving any more problems of their own
invention.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

vernon said:

Google for zero VAT rating and you'll eventually turn up the details on a
treasury or government web site.

Trust me. I'm a teacher ;-)

And I have to brush up on the Customs & Excise VAT guidelines every so
often when writing and testing software for VAT calculations (they
change the rules from time to time to keep us on our toes). I remember
coming across similar information.

--
Danny Colyer <URL:http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:58:59 +0000, Tony Raven <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

vernon wrote on 13/02/2007 17:50 +0100:

Quoted message said:

"Paul Boyd" <usenet.dont.work@plusnet> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

vernon said the following on 13/02/2007 17:10:

> There isn't the possibility to reduce VAT on bikes to zero percent
> anyway as the goverment isn't allowed to introduce new zero VAT
> categories.
Who is then?

Dunno but no member counry of the EEC can introduce new zero rates.

But if they were those carrot fibre bikes you could classify them as
food which is zero rated ;-)

They'd get classified as carrot cake though and attract 17.5%. It's
the Jaffa cake thing all over again.

Tim

you know? said:

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:57:57 GMT, Ambrose Nankivell
<[email hidden]> said in
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Improve the efficiency
of government by going a whole year without passing any micromanaging,
populist, pandering-to-the-minority,
doubtless-to-be-rejigged-the-minute-the-system-actually-adapts-to-them
acts of parliament or departmental regulations and instead commit to
following through on long distance aims, set by the relevant ministers
as part of good cabinet government, and allow for the rebuke of
ministers for changing the goalposts or setting of targets which fail to
account for the actual quality of life improvement delivered.

Or: We the undersigned will slap the government with a wet trout if
they so much as think of solving any more problems of their own
invention.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

'slapped with a wet trout', i am so pinching that 😄

and I've not paid VAT on a bike or parts for 5 years as everything
bike related I need I get 'second hand' from Oregon.

In article <[email hidden]>, Danny
Colyer
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

vernon said:

Google for zero VAT rating and you'll eventually turn up the details on a
treasury or government web site.

Trust me. I'm a teacher ;-)

And I have to brush up on the Customs & Excise

ITYM HMRC :-)