London hotel tax is 20%
Aug 21st, 2014, 11:56 AM
#44
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You apparently weren't outraged by the VAT you paid on petrol, or shopping, or theatre tickets, or train tickets or every thing else you paid for in London???????>
of course you have to pay the piper but it is rather unfair to a tourist to pay such an exorbitant % of tex to support European socialism (such as flanner.uk often espouses) - our sales taxes are max =usually 6-8% - some cities do have a separate hotel tax.
How come some things expensive are VAT-free if exported - what's the difference?
of course you have to pay the piper but it is rather unfair to a tourist to pay such an exorbitant % of tex to support European socialism (such as flanner.uk often espouses) - our sales taxes are max =usually 6-8% - some cities do have a separate hotel tax.
How come some things expensive are VAT-free if exported - what's the difference?
Aug 21st, 2014, 12:57 PM
#47
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Why is it unfair for tourists to pay VAT, and be able to claim some of it back, but it is OK for tourists visiting the US to pay a huge range of variable taxes, none of which are included in the price quoted, and none of which can be reclaimed?
Answer me that PalenQ.
Answer me that PalenQ.
Aug 21st, 2014, 02:49 PM
#50
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Answer me that PalenQ>
Well I should let janis answer that question for me so you know what I really think! But the U.S. tax seems also an onerous burden for pure tourists.
I'm not complaining about VAT being so so high - up to 25% or so in France but tourists bring in money for a country not deplete if a Patrick London seems to think - being parasites on the ever gushing public European trough.
Well I should let janis answer that question for me so you know what I really think! But the U.S. tax seems also an onerous burden for pure tourists.
I'm not complaining about VAT being so so high - up to 25% or so in France but tourists bring in money for a country not deplete if a Patrick London seems to think - being parasites on the ever gushing public European trough.
Aug 21st, 2014, 03:08 PM
#51
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Hang on a mo' PalenQ.
Yes, we tourists bring in money.
We also put stress on water and sewage and waste systems; pound the pavement (both inside and out of a vehicle); require from time to time police and information services; and can impede the flow of regular commuter traffic unless carefully managed.
That's us sitting on the park bench where a local might want to sit and eat his/her lunch.
So we're a mixed blessing, unless the tax we pay offsets the services we use and the wear and tear we put on infrastructure.
BTW I love London, it's my favourite city. Alas, a lot of other people love it too, which is why it is now so expensive.
Yes, we tourists bring in money.
We also put stress on water and sewage and waste systems; pound the pavement (both inside and out of a vehicle); require from time to time police and information services; and can impede the flow of regular commuter traffic unless carefully managed.
That's us sitting on the park bench where a local might want to sit and eat his/her lunch.
So we're a mixed blessing, unless the tax we pay offsets the services we use and the wear and tear we put on infrastructure.
BTW I love London, it's my favourite city. Alas, a lot of other people love it too, which is why it is now so expensive.
Aug 21st, 2014, 10:12 PM
#52
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I'm finding it quite hard to extract a meaning from your last, PQ (have you moved on from Dulux to Fired Earth?), but I think you're attributing opinions to me I don't have. I merely point out that taxes - the same as we pay - provide services tourists use along with the rest of us.
For the umpteenth time, we are not talking about a "hotel tax" that applies only to tourists (though that's an extra sometimes mooted), but a form of general sales tax. If I stayed in a hotel in the Lakes, or lived in the Lakes and stayed in London, I'd be paying it too.
Tourism isn't (some might be surprised to hear) a God Almighty among commercial operations.
For the umpteenth time, we are not talking about a "hotel tax" that applies only to tourists (though that's an extra sometimes mooted), but a form of general sales tax. If I stayed in a hotel in the Lakes, or lived in the Lakes and stayed in London, I'd be paying it too.
Tourism isn't (some might be surprised to hear) a God Almighty among commercial operations.
Aug 21st, 2014, 11:08 PM
#54
I'm always amazed tourists can get their tax back when they leave the country. When they bought that handbag did they not do it in a society that was safe for them to do so, rather than be mugged of it on the way to the airport. Hence they were consuming part of that society's services during that transaction.
So far I've only ever claimed tax back leaving Japan, please tell me does this happen everywhere?
So far I've only ever claimed tax back leaving Japan, please tell me does this happen everywhere?
Aug 22nd, 2014, 12:47 AM
#57
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>>So far I've only ever claimed tax back leaving Japan, please tell me does this happen everywhere?<<
I've done so from Canada.
With VAT, I think the logic depends on the fact of exporting something: since it works by taxing added value, at each stage of production and consumption the tax is levied on the output price, but a refund is paid for tax paid on the previous stages (I <i>think</i> this is the idea) - so if it's exported, the exporter gets back the tax paid on the final stage within that tax jurisdiction. I suppose the idea was to encourage more efficient production/consumption chains, and exports.
I've done so from Canada.
With VAT, I think the logic depends on the fact of exporting something: since it works by taxing added value, at each stage of production and consumption the tax is levied on the output price, but a refund is paid for tax paid on the previous stages (I <i>think</i> this is the idea) - so if it's exported, the exporter gets back the tax paid on the final stage within that tax jurisdiction. I suppose the idea was to encourage more efficient production/consumption chains, and exports.
Aug 22nd, 2014, 04:52 AM
#59
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"
Why was the 21% VAT on Barcelona hotels OK with you but the 20% VAT in London is pathetic and ridiculous. Why is paying the VAT and city tax in Italy OK?
Are you anti London? Anti British?"
No, I am not anti London/British. I am anti fxxking high tax, that's all.
Why was the 21% VAT on Barcelona hotels OK with you but the 20% VAT in London is pathetic and ridiculous. Why is paying the VAT and city tax in Italy OK?
Are you anti London? Anti British?"
No, I am not anti London/British. I am anti fxxking high tax, that's all.
