The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:
What does the government get more of if a pint of 4% beer is sold in a pub for £3.00?
Beer Duty -34%
VAT - 66%
Well done to the two-thirds of you who got it right: the Beer Duty is 43p and the VAT is 50p.
So why does the pub industry keep complaining about Beer Duty and only very occasionally about VAT? If we cheerfully gloss over the effect of the smoking ban and assume that the main competition for pubs is people deciding to buy booze in the supermarket and drink it at home, the if the pub industry were well advised they would only complain about VAT and if anything they would support an increase in Beer Duty.
That would enable pubs to reduce their selling prices - whether for booze, food or soft drinks - and it would push up the selling price of booze in the supermarkets, thus tilting the playing field back in their favour. Ah well.
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This week's Fun Online Poll is based on a slogan coined by DBC Reed in the comments earlier:
"You can have high house prices or good wages, but not both"
A bit simplistic yes, but ultimately there is a trade-off and it is one of many choices a society has to make.
Choose here or use the widget in the sidebar.