Your gym - has it passed on the VAT reduction?

dnomyar

Just rang HMRC, who advised that if I paid for a service upfront, before Dec 1st, and the service runs after Dec 1st, then it is upto the organisation if they want to refund the VAT difference or not, but if you pay monthly, then they should pass on the VAT cut and have advised that I report my local council to the local HMRC office.

Effectively, if you pay monthly and they have not passed on the VAT cut, then this is classed as an imediate increase in fees and you could try to cancel your membership with imediate effect as they have failed to inform you of an increase in fees thus breaking the contract 1st.

If you are paying monthly for a contract started before Dec 1st, and they have not reduced the VAT you pay, then I would report them to your local HMRC office or at least threaten the company with this.

brightonman123

may be worth notifying local environmental health, if gyms are in poor condition - no excuse considering the amounts they charge!

1jim

Roko seem to have reduced the Vat and had a letter from them saying they wernt going to increase prices either

[Deleted User]

Nope. My gym increased the prices by £10 in Sept and heard nothing about VAT reduction grrr.

jenniewb

liam8282 wrote: »

Jenniewb, that is disappointing to hear about the state of the council gyms in London, especially with all the stuff you hear about on the news about the olympics and the vast amounts of money they say they are spending on sport etc in London. I wonder what they are actually spending all that money on?!

Tell me about it- wanna guess which borough I am in?:

Greenwich.

And guess where you will find my gym? right next to Greenwich Park. Apparent new home to part of the Olympics!

aardvark65

No reduction at Bannatynes either - not heard anything and Direct Debit remains the same. Must admit cleaners at my gym excellent tho, i go for swimming pool and local council one is filthy!

twinkletoes62

My gym is part of the Esporta chain. Think i saw a sign saying they are passing on the VAT but as they are also putting the prices up for next year for a few quid it equals itself out

Geordie_bear

liam8282 wrote: »

I looked into quite a few gyms when I joined up last year.

The best option for me was to join my local council gym. I live in leeds and the nearest gym to me is a new leisure centre that only opened about 2 years ago if that. All the machines were brand new and it is quite a nice gym.

Also when I joined they had a corporate discount scheme, where workers who work for specific companies such as the council, british gas etc, got discounts of upto 20% off there fees. As I am studying part time as I work my student card also entitled me to the full discount.

For me it works out at about £20 per month, this is for use of the gym and also swimming, any day I want. If I didn't sign up, you can just pay when you want to go, but it works out at about £4 or more every session, so as I try to go 3 times a week this was costing me quite a bit.

Another advantage is that I can also use any leeds city council gym / leisure centre I want, and also as my son is under 5 he gets to swim for free so I can take him swimming anytime he wants to go as well.

I would recommend council gyms to anybody who is looking to join a gym.

I concur, private owned gyms are only interested in making money at the expense of the customer! I've always found them sneaky and shady when it comes to pricing & cancelling your membership!

Just joined Gateshead Councils leisure centre & at £25 a month it's a real bargain! I can use all the swimming & leisure facilities in the borough ie Sauna, Steam room, swimming, gym & all for less then a £1 a day!

What's more no joining fee & if I want to cancel I just cancel, it's the way it should be!:T

bumblebeebecky23

Hi

Can anyone offer advice please?

I am currently a member of virgin gym and have diamond membership (which means it wont ever go up) so therefore I should never be affected by a price rise anyway but when I contacted them to see if they are going to reflect the new 15% vat rate in there monthly charges they said that the diamond membership wont go up or down so basically no.

Is this legal? Technically the monthly payment has gone up if they are only taking 15% for VAT and keeping any difference themselves? surely no-one but the government are entitled to vat money??

Neiliboy

David Lloyd in Cambridge are useless......havnt enquired about VAT cuts but just thought I'd slag 'em off while we're at it!!

Rip off merchants....good n proper!!