Discussion
Don't want to get into an arguement about this, but why oh why does the motor trade insist on this (IMHO) ridiculous practice of quoting prices exclusive of VAT. Whether you can claim it back or not, EVERYBODY has to pay it, so the price without is useless. This is certainly the case when actually paying the bill.
So many times I have asked the price of something only to have to ask a second time, So how much is it then? and watch them sculk off to find a calculator so they can tell me what the REAL price is. We all pay it, why quote without it?
If you want to know the basic price you could ask for it. For most of us, knowing this at the time of purchase serves no purpose at all as we have to pay the inclusive price.
As far as I know, it is now the case that a customer can demand to pay the price quoted if it is not made clear that VAT will be added.
So many times I have asked the price of something only to have to ask a second time, So how much is it then? and watch them sculk off to find a calculator so they can tell me what the REAL price is. We all pay it, why quote without it?
If you want to know the basic price you could ask for it. For most of us, knowing this at the time of purchase serves no purpose at all as we have to pay the inclusive price.
As far as I know, it is now the case that a customer can demand to pay the price quoted if it is not made clear that VAT will be added.
Nah, I'm with Toyroom on this one.
It is not common practice here as we are accustomed to being told a price is the price you pay, that it includes all extras, not least VAT.
The motor trade doesn't have to play smart arse here. It is very, very rare that the dealer doesn't know if he is talking to a private person or not. So quoting without VAT is a cheap trick.
Likewise, if there is any doubt, they should just say '£75 plus VAT'. Not, as many do '£75 mate'.
It is not common practice here as we are accustomed to being told a price is the price you pay, that it includes all extras, not least VAT.
The motor trade doesn't have to play smart arse here. It is very, very rare that the dealer doesn't know if he is talking to a private person or not. So quoting without VAT is a cheap trick.
Likewise, if there is any doubt, they should just say '£75 plus VAT'. Not, as many do '£75 mate'.
JK1 said:
It's a common practice all over the world. We have sales tax over here on most items and it's never included in the listed price. Again, because not everyone pays the tax...
It is rather bothersome to pay an extra 6.5% on items other than food and clothing.
But I think there are some states that don't have sales tax or is it just no income tax?
Here is my beef. It is a very subtle distinction, but, trade dealers DO pay VAT. They then claim it back later. This means that a part for ten pounds plus VAT will cost them £11.75 and then they will claim £1.75 back from the revenue so that in the end they paid £10 for the part. They still had to come up with £11.75 at the point of purchase, did they not? Hence my point is this: EVERYONE has to pay VAT at the point of sale and therefore has to be told the inclusive price at some stage. So why not do the sensible thing and quote inclusive prices. I mean, if a trader offered £10 for this part in my example, he would be sent back to his van for the rest of the cash. Being VAT registered with the ability to claim VAT back does not mean that you never pay it at some point. This is a separate issue from the other nasty trick of quoting exclusive prices to make items look less expensive. A bit like the way car hire is always quoted exclusive of insurance (and a massive stack of other "essentials"
...but that's another story....
...but that's another story....toyroom said:
trade dealers DO pay VAT. They then claim it back later. This means that a part for ten pounds plus VAT will cost them £11.75 and then they will claim £1.75 back from the revenue so that in the end they paid £10 for the part. They still had to come up with £11.75 at the point of purchase, did they not? Hence my point is this: EVERYONE has to pay VAT at the point of sale and therefore has to be told the inclusive price at some stage. So why not do the sensible thing and quote inclusive prices.
Oh...Thats weird. In the USA it is a bit different. I deal with a lot of Audio/Video gear and if the person I am selling to has a resellers certificate I am not required to charge tax and do not collect it. I am however required to collect sales tax to end users. I also do not have to collect sales tax for items shipped to out of state. In other words as long as a package crosses the state line and I have proof like a shipping recepit I do not have to collect sales tax. There are certain shady dealers that will sell lets say a plasma TV locally then ship an empty box out of state so the customer does not have to pay sales tax. I live near a border so there are many across border shipments that take place.
I would say you have been lucky. In all the years I have driven a sports car and bought parts, had jobs done etc, I have NEVER ONCE been quoted a price including VAT. I think that I am correct, however, in stating that if VAT is not mentioned in the quote at all, the customer can insist on paying the quoted price. The dealer can still do that (IMHO pointless) practice of saying :"Ten quid plus the VAT squire!" But if they say "ten quid" and try and add VAT later, you can refuse to pay it forcing him to pay the VAT from the money you pay as the price is then considered as including VAT already. Don't know how far you would get with this though.
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