In my last blog I talked a bit about the problems posed by ‘cowboy’ tradesmen to property owners and reputable tradesmen alike. This much publicized minority not only give the rest of the industry a bad name, but according to government figures cost home owners around £1.5 billion a year in botched work.
As it happens there is a readily available solution. At the moment, all maintenance and home improvement work is charged at the full rate of 17.5% VAT, despite the benefits this labour brings to the country as a whole: improving the UK’s housing stock; bringing empty homes back on the market; cutting carbon emissions by making homes more fuel efficient and eco-friendly – I could go on.
If VAT was cut from 17.5% to 5% for this kind of work, it would help to eliminate the ‘cowboys’ who try and undercut honest, qualified suppliers by offering to take payment in cash in return for not providing an invoice and not charging VAT. Of course without an invoice the property owner has no form of redress once the plaster starts crumbling, the pipes start leaking and the workmen disappear. Homeowners who were previously tempted to pay in cash in order to avoid the 17.5% VAT rate would have a strong incentive to pay the 5% VAT in the knowledge the work would be done properly, and they would be able to hold those responsible accountable if anything did go wrong.
This is why I am glad to announce POD has joined the Cut the VAT Campaign run by a Coalition of 11 organizations, including the Federation of Master Builders, The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, and the Countryside Alliance, campaigning for Government to do the right thing and make this much needed change.
The Campaign is well underway, achieving some notable successes so far. New research conducted by ComRes on behalf of the Coalition revealed that 72 % of MPs support the decision to make the VAT cut. In January of this year an early day motion in favour of the cut was called by a cross party group of MPs and in December last year, MSP's in the Scottish Parliament tabled a motion supporting the reduction in VAT.
Property Repairs in Dorset/Hants
