The Plymouth Wetherspoon pubs slashing food and drink prices for one day only
Five pubs in Plymouth are to cut the price of all food and drink by 7.5 per cent on Thursday, September 12. The move is to highlight the benefit of a permanent VAT reduction in the hospitality industry.
Prices at The Union Rooms in Union Street, The Stannary in Plympton, The Manamead in Mutley Plain, The Gog & Magog in Southside Street, Barbican and The Britannia Inn in Wolseley Road, Milehouse, will be reduced for one day only to mark Tax Equality Day in the Wetherspoon pubs.
So, for example, a customer spending £10 on food and drink will pay £9.25 on Tax Equality Day. All food and drink in pubs is subject to 20 per cent VAT.
READ MORE:Two treated after TV fire breaks out in flat
READ MORE:Plymouth Winter Wonderland is just a few weeks away
By comparison, supermarkets pay zero VAT on food, and are able to use that saving to sell alcohol to its customers at a discounted price. The Mannamead manager, Willy Shambrook, said: "Customers coming to The Mannamead on Thursday September 12 will find the price of their food and drink is lower than normal.
"It’s unfair that supermarkets pay zero VAT on food, but pubs pay 20 per cent. Pubs have been under fantastic pressure for decades due to the tax disadvantages it has with supermarkets.
"The tax benefit allows supermarkets to subsidise the selling price of beer. It doesn't make sense for the hospitality industry to subsidise supermarkets.
"We urge the Chancellor to create tax equality between pubs and supermarkets."