Tax shouldn't be taxing, apparently
Well, are you thrilled at the prospect of an Office for Tax Simplification, created by the Chancellor of the Exchequer as per his promise of two years ago? Go on, I bet you are.
Along with regulation, red tape and mind-numbing bureaucracy, tax - and the payment thereof - is a major headache for any business, including pubs. At 11,000 pages the UK's tax legislation is apparently three times the volume of Germany's. Anything to make the business community's collective life easier can only be a good thing, can't it?
In principle, yes. If government can help companies spend more time generating wealth for themselves and their stakeholders then it is doing its job.
But then again, simplification shouldn't be an excuse for avoidance by some. Taxes are necessary if society is to function and everyone must play their part.
One hopes that the government isn't merely creating a situation where we have a simpler tax system but a more unfair one.
But to paraphrase George V, bugger taxes. I'll wager that people running pubs care more about the reduction of red tape and will pay closer attention to what the government decides to do on the matter of alcohol duty in the forthcoming autumn statement, and the subject of below-cost selling of booze in supermarkets.
And let's not forget this government's commitment to bring pubcos to account next year if MPs feel they have been tardy in their progress towards a more equitable landlord/tenant relationship. A busy time ahead then…
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On a lighter note, I discovered the art of beermat flipping last week. As a City editor one is usually immersed in the minutiae of writing business news, but as we on The Publican celebrated our Proud of Pubs Week I managed to flip and catch 48 mats one'anded. Can anyone better that? Didn't think so.
