Lack of publicity over England's shops charging 5p a bag

Azari

Nick_C wrote: »

The 5p charge includes 0.83p VAT. This will raise millions for the Government.

That doesn't sound correct.

Anything to back it up?

shaun_from_Africa

Azari wrote: »

That doesn't sound correct.

Anything to back it up?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrier-bag-charges-retailers-responsibilities

What retailers have to do

For every bag that you charge for, you must:
•charge at least 5p a bag (including any VAT)

deanos

I presume places like aldi and lidl will be loosing money as they have to give it to charity now not in there own pocket

Nick_C

Aldi currently give some of the proceeds from the sale of carrier bags to charity. Not sure how much of it, and what they include in their costs.

In future, when working out the proceeds which the government expects retailers to give to good causes, the retailer can include the administrative costs of staff training and providing statistical returns on bag sales. They can't include the actual cost of the bags. However, there is nothing to stop the retailer keeping the proceeds from the scheme. It is merely an expectation that the proceeds will go to good causes that is in the guidance. It's not a legal requirement.

M&S used to have a very small notice at their tills about proceeds from the charge for carrier bags going to charity. It seemed a very small amount. I think M&S were deducting the cost of the bags (and VAT of course) when working out how much to give to charity.

Ilona

I was in Tesco on Sunday and asked about the charge for carrier bags coming in. Didn't look for a sign, I know all about it. The lady on the checkout said they will be giving away the 10p bags for life for the first week, telling the customers to bring them back to use again, then they will get used to the new system. Don't know if more stores will do the same thing. Good idea I thought, then people will be prepared. After that if the customer forgets to bring in a bag it's their own fault and they will get charged.

Personally I couldn't care less about the charity thing, how much will they donate, where will they donate it. I have used my own bags for years, so I won't be paying.
Ilona

Petra_70

Must admit, every shop I have been in has a sign letting everyone know. So I wouldn't say there has been no publicity. :huh:

deanos

i presume there is no charge for paper bags, i remember Safeway used to have those to pack groceries in, could the supermarkets switch to paper ones ?

custardy

deanos wrote: »

i presume there is no charge for paper bags, i remember Safeway used to have those to pack groceries in, could the supermarkets switch to paper ones ?

Why switch?

KxMx

Paper bags are worse for the environment in pretty much every way apart from getting tangled around wildlife They are not the green alternative many assume them to be.

Tesco sent an email a few weeks back stating a 40p flat rate for home delivery grocery, still don't know what Iceland are doing. They have great bags anyway and don't overuse so wouldn't object to 5p each for home delivery.

Azari

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrier-bag-charges-retailers-responsibilities

What retailers have to do

For every bag that you charge for, you must:
•charge at least 5p a bag (including any VAT)

Interesting use of the word 'any'.

Would the entire charge be subject to VAT or just the part that related to the cost of the bag to the retailer?

Apart from the input cost, the retailer is basically just collecting a charitable donation.

The input VAT would always have been reclaimable, so it's not clear that the government will make anything.