Wholesale greed
Picture this: the Nicelandic government does the unthinkable, and lowers VAT* on food. The masses rejoice; after all, if you've spent any length of time here you'll know that the most costly part of living in this most expensive of countries is the grocery bill.
So the changes are due to be implemented on March 1 and everybody's all happy, and all these various bodies have already worked out how much the tax reductions will mean in hard cash for the average family. And it's, like, substantial. And then? The frigging wholesalers start jacking up their prices. All surreptitious, like. Hoping nobody will notice.
Which basically means it will wipe out our tax reduction and we'll be back to square one.
It's so infuriating - and it happens all the time. Just like, when the value of the krona drops in relation to the dollar, and all the movie theatres suddenly jack up their prices, citing the drop in their profits. But when the value of the krona rises again in relation to the dollar - does the price at the box office go down again? Of course not!
So - disappointment on the food tax front. However, big props to the Consumer's Association, who have published a full list of the wholesalers and suppliers who have raised their prices, including the excuses they've given for the hikes, on their website. And even bigger props to Bónus [a.k.a. Baugur, who have fought the good fight against the establisment on many fronts, including being most vocal about pressing for a lower food tax] who have decided to promote the products of those wholesalers who have not raised their prices with special displays in their stores. Well done. They're not this country's most popular company for nothing.
MILD, WONDERFUL, WET, FOGGY
... And once again great for running, now that the snow is all gone and the frost has left us. But - boy. It's markedly more gloomy and dark without the white stuff to light up the middle of winter. Right now we have4°C and the sun came up at 10.27 and set at 16.55.
* sales tax, if you speak American.
So the changes are due to be implemented on March 1 and everybody's all happy, and all these various bodies have already worked out how much the tax reductions will mean in hard cash for the average family. And it's, like, substantial. And then? The frigging wholesalers start jacking up their prices. All surreptitious, like. Hoping nobody will notice.
Which basically means it will wipe out our tax reduction and we'll be back to square one.
It's so infuriating - and it happens all the time. Just like, when the value of the krona drops in relation to the dollar, and all the movie theatres suddenly jack up their prices, citing the drop in their profits. But when the value of the krona rises again in relation to the dollar - does the price at the box office go down again? Of course not!
So - disappointment on the food tax front. However, big props to the Consumer's Association, who have published a full list of the wholesalers and suppliers who have raised their prices, including the excuses they've given for the hikes, on their website. And even bigger props to Bónus [a.k.a. Baugur, who have fought the good fight against the establisment on many fronts, including being most vocal about pressing for a lower food tax] who have decided to promote the products of those wholesalers who have not raised their prices with special displays in their stores. Well done. They're not this country's most popular company for nothing.
MILD, WONDERFUL, WET, FOGGY
... And once again great for running, now that the snow is all gone and the frost has left us. But - boy. It's markedly more gloomy and dark without the white stuff to light up the middle of winter. Right now we have4°C and the sun came up at 10.27 and set at 16.55.
* sales tax, if you speak American.
Labels: Rants, Social concerns
posted by Alda at 7:19 PM
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