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Value Added Tax

On the subject of costs to business, I wonder what estimate the Government made of the cost to small businesses, most of which will account for VAT quarterly. They will have suffered VAT at 17.5 per cent., but will recover it, in the fullness of time, at 15 per cent., so they will suffer a cash-flow disadvantage in the short term. They will also face real costs as they reconfigure their accounting and invoicing systems and reprint all their marketing materials. So they face real cash-flow costs and an actual cost when the change is implemented.