From: Alex 
Newsgroups: uk.finance
Subject: Re: Polish VAT scam
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 00:01:56 +0000

Richard Buttrey wrote:
> On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 21:21:04 +0000, john boyle
>  wrote:
> 
> 
>>In message , Richard Buttrey 
>> writes
>>
>>>On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 17:40:48 +0000, john boyle
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>In message , tim
>>>><520010973502.removethis@t-online.de> writes
>>>>
>>>>>2) do you know anyone who's managed to avoid the
>>>>>'credit processing fee' in Sainsbury (or where-ever)
>>>>>by paying with cash?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Yes, I do it all the time.
>>>
>>>John,
>>>
>>>Just to be clear, and since you don't get a receipt in these places
>>>until the cash/cc has been processed through the till, what is the
>>>exact process you go through whilst standing at the check-out.
>>>
>>>Are you saying that you point out to the operator that there is a
>>>credit processing fee included, which s/he should deduct because
>>>you're about to hand over the readies?
>>
>>No, because when you pay by cash there is no 'credit processing fee' 
>>mentioned on the receipt. So my goods are 2.56% more expensive.
> 
> 
> Ahh, OK.
> 
> This seems like grounds for a letter to Sainsbury to find out why they
> are discriminating against cash customers.
> 
> How times have changed from the early days of ccs, when it was illegal
> for the supplier to charge more for using them. Now it appears legal
> to charge less for using them. !*"&

Unless I'm missing the point here, you're both missing the point. The 
cost of goods is the same, no matter how you pay it. It's just that if 
you pay via a credit card, many shops now say that the transaction is 
handled by another company (a wholly owned subsidiary of the shop, 
presumably), which charges 2.5% as a handling charge. VAT is charged on 
the remainder, and so it is the government which is the loser here. (So 
normally the government would get vat at 17.5% on a £100 item = £17.50, 
but under this `scam` they'd get 17.5% of 97.50 = £17.06.).

Every little helps!