Wetherspoons is cutting the price of food and drink in all 900 of its UK premises today (Wednesday) in a protest over Value Added Tax.
All of the chain’s pubs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will reduce the price of their food and alcohol by 7.5 per cent for 24 hours while frequenters in Scotland are less fortunate as Scottish outlets are only cutting the price on food and soft drinks, according to a report in the Telegraph.
Wetherspoons is protesting the current 20 per cent VAT rate that is placed on food and drink sold in pubs which, they argue, is hindering the industry while supermarkets enjoy the benefit of being able to subsidise alcoholic drinks sales due to the zero-rate VAT on their food.
Wetherspoons isn’t the only chain cutting prices today. They are joined by roughly 15,000 other pubs, restaurants and bars around Britain who have decided to reduce prices for Tax Equality Day with the aim of showing the significant beneficial impact that lowering VAT for the hospitality industry would have on customers and their pockets.
“We are proud to support the campaign to reduce the level of VAT in the pub industry,” said Wetherspoon’s chairman, Tim Martin.
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“On Tax Equality Day, customers in our pubs will find the price of their drinks and food to be lower than normal. We are keen to highlight the amount which customers would save, if VAT in pubs were lowered permanently.”
It’s hoped that the move makes today the busiest day of 2017 for Wetherspoons, which would shed a light on how much the entire industry would benefit from the change.
“We’re aiming to make it the busiest day of the entire year in our pubs and would urge other pub and restaurant operators to participate too,” Martin added.
“So, for example, the total price of a meal and drinks, for a customer, would be reduced from £10 to £9.25 on Tax Equality Day.”
The reduction of the VAT rate by just 5 per cent in the hospitality industry would result in the creation of 78,000 new jobs, according to research conducted by the British Beer and Pub Association.
“Today the pub industry is shining a light on just how unfair VAT is, for both pubs and the wider hospitality sector,” BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds said.
“If you buy a meal in a supermarket there is no VAT, but in the pub, you pay 20 per cent.
“Even a small drop in the VAT rate for eating out, to 15 per cent, would create 78,000 jobs, and would be a big boost for the economy.
“Lots of our competitor countries have taken action on VAT in the hospitality sector, and Britain should, too. When you add in business rates, and the huge rises we have seen in beer duty in the past decade, it all makes for an unsustainable tax burden on our pubs.”
