Reports have come out tonight that Alastair Darling planned a hike in VAT from 2011, according to a note left in Treasury documents which somehow came to light.
According to the notes, VAT was set to rise to 18.5% from 17.5% (remember that VAT is cut to 15% from next Monday, until the end of 2009). Such a rise would cost families an average of £200 per year.
Now, whilst the manner in which this information has come out isn’t particularly clever (references to it were mistakenly left in the Treasury document), the fact that the Government were considering this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
After all, do they not have to consider all of the options available to them? And it’s been pretty clear that certain taxes would have to rise to pay for the short-term spending spree the Government is going on and is encouraging us to do. Of course, whilst this has been ruled out for the moment, it could well reappear in a couple of years when things start picking up.