"No Income Tax, No VAT"

In the words of the theme from the TV series Only Fools and Horses:-

"No income tax, no V.A.T.,
No money back, no guarantee,
Black or white, rich or poor,
We'll cut prices at a stroke......"

Well here's a novel idea I've mentioned before, before, before and now I'm mentioning again - If you trade in any line of business then you must charge VAT - lets do away with this current nonsense £79,000 limit before businesses must register for VAT which just disadvantages most progressive businesses looking to expand and employ people, especially the ones who do charge VAT and trade within the domestic market as domestic customers usually can't claim VAT back on purchases and services and it plays straight into the cash in hand brigade who are desperate to stay below the limit and will do all they can to do so and deceive HMRC. 

HMRC must also do more, they are quick to clamp down on legitimate businesses they know they have full details for and have good accountancy records as they can easily check and spot the odd mistake, but they just can't be bothered or don't have the resources to go after the ones they should.

Customers must also play their part as well as far too many these days are more than happy to shop around until they get someone who is happy to cut corners in tax and VAT and oh believe us most of them will also cut corners on safety and quality as well.