Government pasty tax u-turn welcomed in York (From York Press)

Government pasty tax u-turn welcomed in York

1:24pm Tuesday 29th May 2012 in News By Richard Catton, Health reporter

Renata Marczak

BAKERS in York have welcomed the Government’s pasty tax u-turn, saying the proposed legislation was “daft” and "impossible to police".

The levy, proposed by chancellor George Osborne, would have seen a 20 per cent tax imposed on foods which were cooling down after being removed from an oven, but not on those served at ambient or room temperature.

Businesses such as Greggs, Ryedale-based Thomas the Baker’s and Cooplands in Scarborough have all welcomed the decision to scrap the plans.

Kayleigh Wilson, 23, whose family owns Ye Olde Pie & Sausage Shoppe in Shambles, said: “The whole thing was daft to start with. It would have been just so difficult to police - I suspected it would never last.”

Steve Simpson, production director at Thomas the Baker, said ‘common sense had prevailed’.

He said: “The whole industry was in agreement that the proposed tax was full of inconsistencies that would be impossible to manage, so it’s great news that the government have agreed to our proposal and have dropped the tax for freshly baked hot products that are not intentionally kept warm.”

Meanwhile, a second Government rethink on plans to tax static caravans at 20 per cent has also been welcomed by those affected in the region’s tourism industry.

Dorothy Fairburn, CLA North regional director, said: “Tourism plays a vital role in the region’s economy and static caravans provide accommodation for thousands of visitors.

“Were VAT to be introduced at the full rate it would have reduced the availability of this popular type of accommodation and had a serious knock-on effect for the local economy.”

Simon Mackaness, who runs Rudding Holiday Park near Harrogate, with 100 owner-occupied static caravans, said the addition of full VAT would have been the “final nail in the coffin.”

"The introduction of 20 per cent VAT on static caravan sales would have had a serious impact on our business,” he said. “The sales of new static caravans have been difficult for the last four years due to the recession.”