Effect of VAT Change

This week's talking point has been the Pre-Budget Report and the change in VAT to be implemented from Monday 1st December.  I thought I would provide a quick explanation on how this affects purchases from VS Music Supplies.

Sheet music and books are zero-rated for VAT - this means no VAT applies.  So the price of a book on 30th November will be exactly the same on the 1st December.

Music accessories - reeds, music stands, strings, etc. - are all VATable at the standard rate of 17.5%, 15% from Monday.  In theory, this means that their price will reduce from 1st December.

However, as this is a small part of my business I am not VAT registered so cannot claim back the VAT costs.  This means that since I have already paid for all of the accessories in stock at 17.5% VAT, regrettably my prices will have to stay as they are for now.  I will of course reconsider prices of individual items as and when I stock up again at the new lower rate.

I hope this answers any questions you might have about VAT, if not, please drop me a line.

Ruth

More Folk Music

I have added more titles to my collection of folk music - from Scottish publisher Taigh na Teud. They have previously published popular collections of ceilidh tunes, but are now adding CD versions to their collection.

So if you play fiddle, you will find an increased selection of Scottish tunes to play. Cellists and Accordion players will also find new titles there, and for a flexible group of strings, guitar, piano and recorder there is a collection of tunes for ensemble -Scottish Favourites.

For those planning Burns nights events, there is a great collection of Robert Burns songs (with lyrics) arranged for fiddle duet, guitar and/or piano.

To see the full collection of folk music, click here.

After the dramas of two weeks ago, all is quiet on the plumbing front, so life is back to normal now.

I finally finished my paperwork, but was then struck by the mystery of the disappearing books. Four trombone books are nowhere to be seen - they were there at the last stock take in April, but have disappeared since.  No doubt they will turn up in completely the wrong box next time I do a stock take, but it is really annoying, especially since I have had to buy more!

Every week I add new titles to my website and/or stock.  There is so much music out there, I rely on publishers and customers bringing new titles to my attention in addition to my regular trawl through the catalogues.  This week I have added The Guitarist's Way to my site, after a local customer requested it recently.  It doesn't seem to be too well known, but it is a good starter series for guitarists.

I have also added New Christmas Praise for brass/wind band, which is a great set of Christmas tunes for bands.  My band section on the website is a little thin - it's one of my projects for 2009.  I have added a few more books to my accordion section too, more to come there.

That's all for this week, have a good weekend.