Question for Wetherspoons

 

The BBC reports the following:

Wetherspoons says it will have to put up the price of food in its pubs by around 40p a meal if a VAT cut for the hospitality industry is not extended.

The tax was slashed on food sold in pubs from 20% to 5% during the pandemic to help struggling businesses.

But it is set to return to normal levels, in stages, over the next year, rising to 12.5% in September 2021.

The chain, which has 860 pubs, said it would "make the entire hospitality industry less competitive".

The BBC has contacted the Treasury for a comment.

"It is an important principle of taxation that taxes should be fair and equitable," Wetherspoons said, adding that its own price rises would come in from September.

"One area of undoubted unfairness, which creates economic distortions, relates to VAT. Supermarkets pay zero VAT on food, but pubs and restaurants pay 20%, in normal circumstances."

My question to Wetherspoons is this, when the VAT rates were reduced did you pass that on to your customers via reduced prices?

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