Thread: English Newbie

Originally Posted by Iwan

While they do straight shaves there, they use Dovo Shavette razors (or similar) for reasons of hygene and to keep their insurance costs down.

I really wonder about this, "reasons of hygiene" stuff, they have UV sterilizers in every barber shop that they keep their scissors and clippers in. Plus a real straight has far less nooks and crannies in it than a shavette. I just bet that some bureaucrat went "aha disposable blades, it must be cleaner" thus the law.

by the way what does VAT stand for?

VAT = Value Added Tax. I'm fuzzy on the details, but I think most European countries add in tax at each stage in an item's manufacture. Then there's no sales tax when you buy it--the tax is built into the price.

Seems to have its advantages and disadvantages.

Josh

Originally Posted by Wildtim

I really wonder about this, "reasons of hygiene" stuff, they have UV sterilizers in every barber shop that they keep their scissors and clippers in. Plus a real straight has far less nooks and crannies in it than a shavette. I just bet that some bureaucrat went "aha disposable blades, it must be cleaner" thus the law.

by the way what does VAT stand for?

Originally Posted by joshearl

VAT = Value Added Tax. I'm fuzzy on the details, but I think most European countries add in tax at each stage in an item's manufacture.

As you said Josh, it is a tax on the 'Value Added' each time the item is bought and sold, up to the item being consumed. Currently its 17.5% in the UK. In Europe it varies around that figure.

We have two taxes (GST (federal)/PST (provincial)) recently reduced from 15% to 14% as a cheap election-winning bribe by the Conservative government. I think they're just a ploy to keep us distracted from already astronomical income taxes