US Government oddness/British same

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Martha" 
<fakeplastikcynic at h...> wrote:
> Iggy (I think it was Iggy... apologies if it wasn't)
> 
> >  "Anything that's "prepared" by someone else (that is, actually 
> > assembled
> > > at the time of purchase... such as a burger, a pizza, or even a 
> deli
> > > sandwich) is considered to be a luxury item of sorts."
> 
> Tracy:
> 
> > Don't you just love government oddness?  When I used to work in 
> rehab 
> > I found it odd that Medicare wouldn't pay for a bathtub seat (for 
> > someone who couldn't stand up in the tub/shower - for example, a 
> > stroke victim or a person who'd just had a hip replacement) 
because 
> > it was considered a "luxury item".  Apparently being clean is a 
> > luxury!
> 
> Now Martha:
> 
> This reminds me of the laws on VAT (value added tax) in Britain. 
For 
> those unfamiliar, this is a tax included in the price of items you 
> buy in shops and so on - it's included in the price, and I presume 
> that the business then pays the tax to the government. Anyway, 
> certain things are exempt from VAT - milk, for example. 

Geoff:
Another oddity here is biscuits v chocolate bars. A great favourite 
in the UK are Kit-Kats. The original is a flattish wafer bar made in 
either 2 or 4 chocolate covered fingers each about5inches long by 
three quarters of an inch wide. These classify as biscuits and are 
zero-rated for VAT.

However, some while ago, Nestle introduced Chunky Kit-Kat which come 
in about two sizes (I favour the smaller 26g size personally). These, 
as the name suggests are made in a chunky form, about 5 inches long 
by about three quarters of an inch square cross-section.

They are classified as chocolate bars and so carry VAT. Thus, if I 
want traditional Kit-Kats in my local Tesco store, I go to the 
biscuit aisle; if I want chunky ones, I go to the confectionary 
shelves, four aisles away!

Arggh. Bureaucracy......