Re: Coronavirus
 

Re: Coronavirus
 

Given the chaotic and limited role government plays in healthcare in the USA, is it worthwhile even discussing it with relation to the U.K.?

Remember also that only the Westminster parliament is sovereign. Powers are devolved to Scotland and Wales and if a crisis became sufficiently acute they could be exercised directly by the U.K. government if authorised to do so by the U.K. parliament. Even under present arrangements the devolved administrations depend on central emergency funding and on scientific advice that may be delivered in Edinburgh and London but is given by experts who are in regular contact, who are drawing from the same research and whose advice (and any action taken on it) is readily comparable. They also depend on U.K. government decision making and control in situations where the devolved administrations require military assistance.

This crisis has allowed Sturgeon in Edinburgh and whatever that goon in Cardiff is called to strut about and look far more important and influential than they actually are, but in reality they’re all paying for the party out of the same bank account and there’s barely a hair’s breadth of a difference between the decisions they’re taking; almost all the differences amount to timing that befits local differences, and in any case there are now examples of local differences in regulations within England and Scotland.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Diners to get a 50% discount off their restaurant bill during August
Shame its only Monday to Wednesday.
That said, I normally eat out every Tuesday & Wednesday, so should be good for me. :D

Re: Coronavirus
 

Wonder how they are going to stop fraud happening on a truly epic scale. Eg "So you really had 1,000 people in your restaurant each night?":rolleyes:

Re: Coronavirus
 

l think the reason its only Monday to Wednesday because those days are usually far less busier then the other more busier days of the week.

Thats only my view mind.

Re: Coronavirus
 

The number of places I had in my head ready to book before they added that £10 limit would have seen me doing a food tour of London every Monday-Wednesday throughout August.

---------- Post added at 15:46 ---------- Previous post was at 15:44 ----------

Any large fraud would fall apart instantly if the Government examined it. They get any transaction would have to be accounted for and they would know your typical demand though previous tax years. If your little greasy spoon cafe suddenly started seeing the equivelemt of Wembley stadium in attendance it would show.

Re: Coronavirus
 

They’ll also have a socially distanced capacity.

Re: Coronavirus
 

"If" being the operative word. Are they going to investigate each one? How do you tell the difference between a genuine cash transaction and a fake one? They could even just bump up their prices, so that after the 50% discount it is the same as before. They then pocket that 50% discount refund.

Re: Coronavirus
 

I imagine any large amounts would be looked into and who cares about the smaller amounts?

Re: Coronavirus
 

Like all things HMRC they’ll work with ratios. If you are within the ratio at the end of your VAT period they’ll consider you to be legit, or close enough to legit, to be unworthy of investigation.

If your costs don’t match the upturn in sales and your end of quarter/year profit similarly don’t reflect this then alarm bells go all over the shop and suddenly your are under scrutiny for the last six tax years that you really don’t want if you are actually dodgy.

Re: Coronavirus
 

It’s good to see you think highly of people...

I know the prices in my local restaurants, and if they bumped them up by £10 per head, they would son lose any business.

Re: Coronavirus
 

That makes sense to me. Pre lock-down, some places even closed on Mondays.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Re: Coronavirus
 

Exactly. HMRC have been known to cross reference declared takings with the amount of takeaway cartons purchased. In the case of a hairdresser, they cross referenced with the amount of shampoo, perm solution etc that she had purchased.

---------- Post added at 19:35 ---------- Previous post was at 19:30 ----------

Do we know if people can only do this once, or as many times as they like?

Will it definitely apply to takeaways, or is it just eat in?

The 50% off is a bit disingenuous though, it's only up to a maximum of £10 and I can't think of many places where you could get a three course a la carte meal for £20! It'll be alright for a curry or something though.

Let's hope that it won't involve copious amounts of form filling either.

---------- Post added at 19:37 ---------- Previous post was at 19:35 ----------

I've just had a chuckle at the social distancing sign in Parliament behind an interviewee, 'Keep left at all times' :D

Re: Coronavirus
 

"The discount can be used unlimited times and will be valid Monday to Wednesday on any eat-in meal"
(But the VAT reduction may also apply to takeaways)

You could go for three one-course meals. :)