Ruth Corkin has been quoted within AccountingWeb online here for the 29th May edition 2024.
Ruth Corkin, principal – VAT and indirect tax advisory at Hillier Hopkins, told AccountingWEB that VAT “still has its footprint in purchase tax, which was introduced in 1948, and has little bearing on today’s consumer trends”.
She said: “The best example of this is that the food legislation is, largely, based on what would have been taxed under purchase Tax, with biscuits and chocolate seen as ‘luxuries’. Therefore, there are the well-publicised cases of ‘cake vs biscuit’ where things are wholly or partly covered in chocolate.
“This distinction is lost on the public and both types of product are unhealthy and full of refined sugars, leading, in part, to the obesity crisis.
“Therefore, my view is that tinkering around the edges of legislation that is, at best, 30 years old and at worst based on legislation from nearly 80 years ago is unlikely to simplify much.”
