Fancy that. Those retailers who complained last December that the cut in Vat was too small and wouldn’t work are now complaining that is will end this December.
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Amid the row over Britain’s new 50p income tax rate, no one is asking the basic question. Why do we have tax incomes at all?
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Here is the good news. There is some good news. It is a rash politician who mentions green shoots until they have become sturdy plants, but there are signs of economic improvement.
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Alistair Darling should be wary about announcing new tax holidays in April’s budget, but he should not make the mistake of canceling the current ones because they are not working. And he should not make the mistake of extending them.
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The chancellor’s hints of helping savers by waiving income tax is pointless. Receiving 100 per cent of next to nothing is still next to nothing.
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If the VAT cut was going to work in reflating the economy it would be self-financing. The fact that it is costing £12bn proves it is an expensive waste of effort.
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Eager retailers would have introduced the Vat cut immediately – not complained about having only a week to work out how to do it. Don’t they know a sales aid when they see one?
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A six-month Vat holiday for small firms, nevermind a cut in National Insurance, is not the antidote to recession. It will be impossible to recover the deferred tax.
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Woolworth has emerged as the latest pension fund with a business attached but giving away the operating assets is no way out of the problem.
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The headline on this blog’s adviser to Alistair Darling last month was “A stamp duty cut would boost the economy – but wait”. The chancellor obviously liked the idea, but instead of waiting he has talked about it. Now he has no choice but to act immediately – even if it is to kill the idea.

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