London hotel tax is 20%

Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:02 PM
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London hotel tax is 20%

ok, can it be more pathetic? or it doesn't encourage people visit there?
this is getting ridiculous.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:08 PM
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Do you not have state/provincial/federal tax on top of prices where you live?
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:11 PM
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that's not 20%.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:14 PM
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When you consider not having to tip 20% in restaurants, bars, hotels etc it probably works out to less than the taxes plus tips on some things in the US for example. It is all relative. Not to mention that museums are mostly free in London. If you look at the big picture...
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:16 PM
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If you look at VAT rates across Europe 20% is fairly low...

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs...t_rates_en.pdf
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:20 PM
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London is an expensive destination, no doubt, but worth it to many. If it's not worth it to you, simple, don't go there. Pathetic has more to do with seeing a great city as narrowly as this.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:25 PM
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Many other EU countries have lower rate for tourist-related services. In Spain , for example, VAT is generally 21% but 10% for hotels and restaurant meals. UK tourist industry wants lower VAT to be more competitive, but so far, nothing has been done.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:30 PM
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I can't see what difference this makes to the average tourist. You're quoted the full price including VAT when you search for listings, book, or pick up your invoice, so it's not as though anything is being sneakily added on at the last minute that you hadn't budgeted for. Yes it adds to the cost but it's not hidden.

PS Bikerscott - are you the other half of Jamikins? I feel all excited that I might have spotted a pair. Like that Cadburys competition a few years back when you had to eat half a hundred weight of Time Out and Twirl bars to try and find matching airline seat numbers...
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:36 PM
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>>ok, can it be more pathetic? or it doesn't encourage people visit there?
this is getting ridiculous.everything You apparently weren't outraged by the VAT you paid on petrol, or shopping, or theatre tickets, or train tickets or every thing else you paid for in London???????
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:37 PM
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If you don't like it, stay at home

We subsidise you freeloading Yanks far too much as it is.

One less mightn't make a great deal of difference. But every little helps.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:40 PM
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NYC hotel tax is 18%. Big cities are expensive.

You just need to figure it as part of the cost of the trip.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:47 PM
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Go ahead and pay the London prices. It'll help some of them get over the fact that they lost the war.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 01:52 PM
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I thought Chicago was now 26% on top of the quoted price.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 02:07 PM
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>

That is probably the biggest line of bull I've seen on this board. Flanner's idiocy knows no bounds.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 02:12 PM
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RM67 - Bikerscott is indeed my 'other half'
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 02:20 PM
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jz166: . . . You do know you'll be paying VAT inItaly as well . . .
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 03:19 PM
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>

And in Rome there is a city tax on top of the VAT.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 03:22 PM
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Well, apparently it ( VAT ) isn't discouraging people from visiting. I was in London the end of June, and it was as crowded as I've seen it in some 25 years.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 07:06 PM
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The tax rate in itself is meaningless.

According to this argument if two cities have following tax rates:
City A: 20%
City B: 15%
Then City A is ridiculous, so one should choose City B.

Let's add more practical info. Suppose we are looking at hotels in each city. For the purpose of comparison, they are interchangeable disregarding the price tags:

City A: hotel is 150EU + 20% tax = 180.00EU
City B. hotel is 250EU + 15% tax = 287.50EU

Again, according the foregoing argument, the City A is ridiculous based on the tax rate, so one should choose the City B instead.

In reality, there are many other tangible and intangible costs and values related to each city.
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Old Aug 20th, 2014, 09:45 PM
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OP, if you're complaining about a 20% tax maybe a trip to Europe isn't for you.
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