Research by the TaxPayers' Alliance has revealed the extent of the taxman's squeeze on festive spending this Christmas. The typical UK household will spend £1,344on Christmas, of which £212, or nearly 16 per cent, will be tax. That would be enough to buy 18 of Lidl's delicious luxury Christmas puddings.
Whether it's a necklace for your other half, a games console for the kids, a bottle of bubbly for the family or a chocolate yule log for pudding, practically all Christmas purchases will be taxed via levies like VAT, alcohol duty, fuel duty or the sugar tax. The total tax bill will run to £5.9 billion, more thandouble the annual cost of job seeker's allowance payments.
Key findings in the research paper reveals: VAT is levied on nearly all Christmas purchases - 90 per cent of spending on parties, pressies and Christmas meals will be subject to it. As a result, households will pay £5.1 billion in VAT this Christmas, equivalent to £182.80 per household.
The average household drives 302 miles to parties, relatives' homes and last minute shopping trips during the Christmas season. This means that the total fuel duty bill will amount to £247 million, or £17.74 a household.
The sugar tax will cost the public £300 million in 2019-20, meaning that the Christmas thirstiness will lead to an additional £7.5 million being paid on the soft drinks industry levy.
John O'Connell, chief executive at the TaxPayers' Alliance, told the newspaper,"Despite families already forking out a fortune for the festive season, the taxman has clearly decided it 'tis not the season to be jolly.
"Scrooge may have seen the error of his ways, but the greedy grinch of Whitehall has not discovered generosity this Christmas, with inefficiency making public services much more expensive than needs be for those who foot the bill.
"Taxpayers are not Christmas puddings to be raided for pound coins - the new government should look to wipe out wasteful spending and reduce the burden for typical taxpayers."
