DRINKERS in Ealing will enjoy a discount as part of a pub group’s campaign to align the VAT pubs pay with supermarkets.
Three Wetherspoons pubs are to cut the price of all food and drink by 7.5 per cent on Thursday, September 12 to highlight the issue.
Prices at The Red Lion & Pineapple in Acton High Street, The Sir Michael Balcon in The Mall, Ealing and The Greenwood Hotel in Whitton Avenue West, Northolt, will be reduced for one day only to mark what it calls Tax Equality Day.
For example, a customer spending £10 on food and drink will pay £9.25 on that day.
All food and drink in pubs is subject to 20 per cent VAT. By comparison, supermarkets pay zero VAT on food and are able to use that saving to sell alcohol to customers at a discounted price.
Red Lion and Pineapple manager Alessandro Piano said: "Pubs have been under fantastic pressure for decades due to the tax disadvantages.
"It doesn't make sense for the hospitality industry to subsidise supermarkets.
"We urge the Chancellor to create tax equality between pubs and supermarkets."
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