PUB GIANT Wetherspoon is set to slash the prices of food and drink this week.
It follows the news from Chancellor Rishi Sunak that the VAT rate for the hospitality industry will drop from 20per cent down to five per cent from July 15.
It is hoped that the temporary cut will help the struggling industry bounce back from the coronavirus crisis.
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VAT is a tax paid by businesses on items they sell and is usually included in the price at the checkout.
Now the chain, known to many as ‘spoons’, has made posters will Sunak’s Specials and Dishi Rishi deals which will be displayed alongside the new prices.
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The company said that it will fully pass on the tax cut to its customers from Wednesday, including real ale coffee, soft drinks, breakfasts and other food.
The chairman, Tim Martin, said: "Wetherspoon has campaigned for tax equality between pubs, restaurants and supermarkets for many years.
"Supermarkets pay no VAT on food sales and pubs pay 20per cent.
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"Supermarkets pay about two pence per pint of business rates and pubs pay about 20 pence.
"These tax differences have helped supermarkets to subsidise their selling prices of beer, wine and spirits, enabling them to capture about half of pubs' beer sales, for example, in the past forty years.
"A VAT reduction will help pubs and restaurants reverse this trend - creating more jobs, helping high streets and eventually generating more tax income for the Government.
"Not every UK hospitality business will be able to reduce prices immediately.
"Some will need to retain the benefit of lower VAT just to stay in business. Others may need to invest in upgrading their premises.
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"However, lower VAT and tax equality will eventually lead to lower prices, more employment, busier high streets and more taxes for the Government."
Oxford Wetherspoons:
- The Swan and Castle, Castle Street
- The Four Candles, George Street
- The William Morris, Between Towns Road
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