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Tuesday 15 January 2019

May loses big

432 to 202, the biggest government defeat for nearly 100 years. So that's the May Deal out of the window.

 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!


What next?

Tomorrow, there will be a confidence vote on the government. I think that Corbyn is right to call it, but the Tory government will win, because they can't afford to lose, because that leads to a General Election, and the possibility that the Tories are out of government.

Then May has three days to explain plan B.

There is no plan B, of course. I will not be surprised if she resigns, on the grounds that she's done her best, and someone else can clean up this mess.

There will be much talk of another referendum, carefully camouflaged by calling it a "People's Vote". There will be talk of postponing March 29, which I think actually can't be done. There will be talk of cancelling Brexit, which can be done, but will be voted down if asked. There will be much talk of Canada, and Norway, and shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. And there will be much talk of "crashing out, leaving without any deal", for which there is no parliamentary majority, but that's what will happen unless we change course.

And I think that the steering and brakes on this particular bus, have failed. We're crashing out. No deal.

So let me explain my own particular little problem, and it is to do with VAT.

I charge VAT on sales, of course, to sales to the UK and the other 27 EU countries. And every three months, I total up sales to each country, and work out the VAT for each country, using the VAT rate of that country (which varies between 17% and 25%) and pay that VAT to each country, using a scheme called "VAT MOSS".

So, after March 29, and if there's no deal, what do I do? Do I charge VAT on sales to EU countries? I don't see a good reason why I should, just as I don't charge VAT on sales to the USA.

Or am I wrong? I've asked HMRC; they don't know either.

And, of course, it isn't just me, and it isn't just VAT.

Omnishambles.

1 comment:

  1. If the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy taught us anything it's that getting an answer is the easy part.

    As our glorious leader is discovering, the hard part is working out a question that both fits the answer and makes sense.

    2 years down, 1,999,998 to go...

    ReplyDelete