Apple website price increase?

ghost101 said:
A tax always falls on multiple parties. VAT is a tax on both suppliers and consumers, the way they share that burden depends on multiple factors.

Also note that income tax is a tax on both employers and employees.

Basic theory:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_incidence
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You missed my point. I know how VAT works I was just wondering why the OP thinks that businesses should pay his share of the tax burden. It's not like businesses in this country don't pay enough tax already.
 
I think what a lot of people are missing is that any company that is 'kindly' swallowing the VAT increase is doing it temporarily, as a marketing tool.

They are hoping that the increase in business from them being slightly cheaper than their competitors who follow the raise in VAT with their prices, will bring more custom their way.

It's just two ways of aiming for the same result - which is to be making the same money you were before the VAT increase.

They're not doing the right thing or doing you a favour, they're trying to get your money!
 
Yup, I know companies that give you the whole "we swallow the vat rise for you" marketing rubbish on their websites and leaflets when the products they sell aren't even taxable anyway. Example: whole foods/gardening companies/etc.
 
There was debate about this over on MacRumors, and of-course all the Americans were trolling. Mentioning the NHS seems to shut them up though :p.

My Post Overthere said:
To all the Americans that don't get why the Brits are whining: Apple aren't a charity. We understand that. If you want something you have to pay the price. We understand that.
The issue people have is that the USA Pre-Tax price (displayed on the Apple Website) and the UK Pre-Tax price (found on your receipt or calculated from the website with a simple bit of maths) is different. The Apple TV for example costs £84.17 (+ £16.83 Tax at the new 20% rate) in the UK. At the current rate of 1 GBP = 1.56028 USD that £84.17 is $131.33. However the Apple TV only costs $99 (+ $varying Tax) in the USA. This difference of $32.33 Pre-Tax is what annoys people, and is why some people wrongly thought that Apple might have absorbed the VAT increase in the UK into their profit margin. If Apple had, as some people hoped, reduced the UK Pre-Tax price to £82.50 ($128.72), and thus kept the Inc-Tax price to £99 with the new 20% rate, the UK consumer would have thought how warm and cuddly Apple was at absorbing the VAT rise into their profit margin and overlooked the fact that the Pre-Tax price was $29.72 higher than in the USA.

However as others have pointed out previously Apple's cost of trading in the UK is probably higher than the USA due to both the customers statutory rights and the employees rights....
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Apple pays more tax here than in the US. That's what people never understand, it's not the freaking businesses fault.

Apple is a US company and the US's buying power is much higher than the UK, considering they have 5-6 times as many citizens, but Apple still offers the same level of support they offer over there when they are being paid much much less, obviously a small premium in their prices needs to be input.

You only need to look at Canadian prices and US prices, Canadians pay more, for the exact same reason you pay more, it's 2 different countries, it's not the business that wants to rip you off, it's the way your country is run.

Britain needs to stop comparing themselves to the US, you can't expect everything for nothing when your businesses are taxed dry of their profits and you are taxed dry of your income. This does not happen in the US which is why they are such a capitalist country.
 
ghost101 said:
We actually have lower corporation tax. 27% vs 35% in the states.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_corporation_tax#Rates_and_payment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_tax_in_the_United_States#Federal_tax_rates
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What keeps a business alive?

Customers.

How many customers does Apple have in the US?

How much Sales tax do customers pay in the US compared to the UK?
How much tax (not just income) do people pay in the US compared to the UK?
How much is minimum wage (the salary of most apple employees) in the US?

This is what you have to reflect on, then you will be ready to answer why we you might pay 10/15% more on the same product sold elsewhere.
 
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