Moan, moan, moan----get it off your chest or have a chat

[iann]

No VAT on most food, children's clothes, most books, household fuel only 5%, and a number of other exemptions for items considered "essentials".  Also, small businesses with a fairly low turnover don't have to register to pay, and charge, VAT which may allow them to charge lower prices.

[Lesley Cox]

Our govt has always put exempting some items in the "too hard" basket, regardless that other govts are able to cope with it. There has been talk of exempting fresh fruit and vegetables in an attempt to encourage people to eat more healthily but it hasn't happened. I like that books are exempt. Not here, but our local University Bookshop gives 10% discount on everything (they only sell cards and books) to members of Dn Public Library.

[TC]

I have to correct Iann's remarks that there is no VAT on most foods, children's clothes, public transport etc.  They are charged with VAT at zero percent and are not exempt from Vat.  The advantage of zero rating is that it enables a business to claim back VAT on their allowable business expenses.
Farmers are zero rated for the production of livestock, grain, fruit and vegetables. This enables them to reclaim VAT on farm machinery,commercial vehicles, power, fertiliser and any other standard rated goods used in their business. This is a very simplistic explanation of UK VAT- the devil is in the detail.
Exempt means that your goods or services are not chargeable with VAT and that no VAT can be reclaimed on the goods or services incurred in their manufacture or provision.
I had the misfortune to work as a VAT Officer for 15 years before they let me out so I have some experience in the subject - which thankfully is fading with my memory !!!

[Lesley Cox]

We differ here too Tom. We may claim back GST paid on PRODUCTION costs but not on CAPITAL costs. I made the mistake, when at the beginning of the NZ GST regime of reclaiming all GST involved in my little nursery (including the construction of a tunnel house and a shade house) and when IRD did a GST audit, I had to repay quite a lot of money that I had claimed wrongly. I was very lucky that GST has only been on the books for about a year and not only the public but the IRD too, were feeling their way somewhat so while I had to repay what they said I owed, I wasn't given penalties or prosecuted etc. I could claim the GST I'd paid on labels, pots, potting mix but not on the frames, houses etc as they were capital not production. (We also pay GST on labour costs). Now, a small business is not required to be GST-registered if annual turmover is less than $40,000. It was $30,000 when I was doing it. But of course if you're not registered, even if very small, you can't claim legitimate GST payment you've made.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Lesley,
I hear that your pollies have been rorting the allowances system and their punishment is to have a pay rise!
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

Well of course Fermi. That is to be expected. They're pollies after all! Some, including the Finance Minister (who would like to be PM but hasn't enough support yet to get his knife out, and who was deposed as PM in the last round of conservatives, likewise by a knife in the back), was getting a massive housing allowance, to live in a Wellington house he himself owned! Tip of the iceberg. I think the pay rise is to be 10%

[mark smyth]

Antrim Borough Council landscapers were working on a near by roundabout today. They dug out the lovely shrub Potentillas and the grasses. They also trimmed the Phormiums in to not so nice oval balls

[Lesley Cox]

Lucky you Mark. It sounds as if your Council landscape workers have all the usual knowledge, skills and aesthetic appreciation of their kind.

[mark smyth]

All have been taught in the same school of landscaping where they leant how to cut shrubs in the shape of balls, ovals and flat tops

[Anthony Darby]

All have been taught in the same school of landscaping where they leant how to cut shrubs in the shape of balls, ovals and flat tops

You pay peanuts you get monkeys. In Falkirk the council workers are told to spray weed killer on the edge of paths (and under hedges). They actually spray the edge of the grass, which in some places is now over a foot of bare earth away from the path, and increasing each year. In one place, where one path curves, some grass has regrown to form a crescent-shaped grassy island ignored by the automaton that is in charge of the spray.

[Lesley Cox]

Here, they do the spraying of weeds, especially annual weeds, a couple of weeks after they have all seeded and are going to die anyway. They don't spray the young, newly growing weeds though.

[mark smyth]

I'll post a photo of a weed killing contractor who was out the front spraying last week. Quite the opposite to what Anthony reports

[Rogan]

"You pay peanuts you get monkeys. In Falkirk the council workers are told to spray weed killer on the edge of paths (and under hedges). They actually spray the edge of the grass, which in some places is now over a foot of bare earth away from the path, and increasing each year. In one place, where one path curves, some grass has regrown to form a crescent-shaped grassy island ignored by the automaton that is in charge of the spray."

"Here, they do the spraying of weeds, especially annual weeds, a couple of weeks after they have all seeded and are going to die anyway. They don't spray the young, newly growing weeds though."

I thought it only happened in Africa...   

[mark smyth]

When I was in Texas many years ago I was amazed at the number of native wild flowers along verges. It was annoying to learn that some people treated them like weeds

Weed control by a contractor brought in by the Housing Executive

[Lesley Cox]

Over the recent summer and autumn I have been gradually training myself to eat (or rather, use in cooking) chillies; first very mild then working up to the really hot kinds and over all I've succeeded quite well and now frequently add even very hot kinds to this or that dish. A couple of nights ago I chopped two finely, one red and one green and added then to an Asian-type stir fry. It was very good. But although I carefully wash my hands after chopping them, I found, when I used a tissue on my nose, or wiped hair out of my eyes, that my skin was quite badly burnt (not visibly but quite painfully). Under my fingernails, even 36 hours plus 2 showers and countless hand washes later, there is still a burning sensation and it wasn't a good idea to put my finger in my mouth to relieve it. Obviously this is something to be very careful about. But it has only happened with these last chillies, not through the previous months. Maybe at the end of the season they are much stronger?