It amazes me what supermarket owners are putting forward as reasons for not changing their prices on items from which the VAT has been removed. Their argument is that they paid VAT on their existing stock so when they re-order and purchase without VAT then the price will be reduced.
Do you take us for idiots? If you paid VAT on the items when you purchased them then the VAT paid will be offset against the VAT received when the items are sold. If there is no VAT charged when the item is sold then you get back the VAT that you paid when you file your VAT return. There is no loss to the sellers unless they are not VAT registered.
Find a better excuse to charge us more and keep the money for yourselves as I am pretty sure that when they are submitting their VAT returns they will no doubt state that the items sold did not carry VAT and therefore no VAT was collected, effectively retaining the 15 per cent as profit.
Bernard Quesnel