Stock Up Before the VAT Increase to Save Those Already Sparse January Funds

The Value added tax placed on products within the U.K will be increased to 20% on January 4th, meaning of course the cost of most products will rise by 2.5%. This may not sound a huge increase but when applied to everything you purchase it can easily add up to a significant increase in costs for a family on a budget.Various retailers have taken the ethical step by absorbing the VAT increase into their prices. This avoids passing on the cost to the customer. Of course this is great for the consumer and they will be more conscious in the places they shop. Of course not all retailers will offer to absorb the cost into their margin, many businesses simply cannot afford to do so as their costs and margins are too large to cut out 2.5%. So when shopping in January don’t expect to see every retailer giving the good will to all customers, after all the festive period will have passed. One option for people wanting to save January funds would be to buy products in advance to benefit from reduced VAT. This would be particularly useful if you are looking to purchase an item of significant cost, one example would be purchasing a domestic appliance such as a washing machine, television or a dishwasher. A £500 television with a 20% VAT rate would cost on average an extra £13 compared to the standard 17.5%. This is a significant difference especially when on a tight budget. This of course increases as the cost of the product rises, if the purchase of a car or a new kitchen was being planned then the price increases significantly so much so it would pay to rush the purchase through to avoid the VAT increase.Many online retailers have urged customers to get purchases in early to try and save their customers funds. Online auction site eBay has issued several warnings to merchants to inform them of the increases in prices and the changes to their accounts and potential postage charges. This means for the customer in the U.K it makes perfect sense to get on the auction site as many users will start to try and liquidate stock with some great deals, simply have a browse around to find some great last minute deals before the VAT increase. Once the VAT increase it will eventually become the standard but before the change occurs it pays to try and get all you can into the home to save those extra funds in January which would be absorbed by VAT in the coming months.