Today is the first anniversary of the introduction of VAT on sports nutrition products in the UK, which is seen by many as a black day for the sports nutrition industry and anyone who is devoted to a healthy and active lifestyle.
On 1 October 2012, 20% VAT was added to all standard whey, creatine and amino acids, raising costs significantly for users.
As noted by specialist online firm Bulk Powders, the majority of retailers and brands aim to fight to keep their prices low, to give the customer great value for money on all sports supplements – but the added VAT has made this increasingly difficult.
A year on, the users of sports supplements are not content to let this issue lie. As a call to action, Bulk Powders has put together a letter that allows consumers to tell their local Member of Parliament (MP) how they feel….
Dear ………,
It is now a year since the coalition abolished the zero rating on whey protein. You probably didn’t notice. You noticed the pasty. And weren’t you all heroes, rescuing us from pasty tax? Because you thought that’s what ordinary people ate.
And you probably don’t know what whey protein is or else you think it’s some kind of freak show supplement used in conjunction with steroids. And that’s not your fault. It’s a well established generational thing. If you are over 40, you probably associate any kind of sports nutrition with the dark side.
If I told you that sports supplements are now completely mainstream (yes, over 3 million users in the UK) and that they form a natural part of a healthy and active lifestyle, perhaps you might think again. You are now taxing the healthiest 10% of the population – the people who won’t clog up your hospitals with obesity related disease. And the very people whose lifestyle you ought to encourage are now being taxed for the lifestyle that you would applaud.
If you want to save the NHS, support healthy living. And if you really need the money for the 2.9 million people with diabetes, why not consider standard rate VAT on pasties and cake?
Yours Faithfully
Your Name
Bulk Powders is suggesting that sports nutrition consumers use the letter template and voice their concern with their MP. The company also notes the importance of 3 million as ‘an interesting number.’ It is reportedly the number of people in the UK who use sports nutrition as part of a healthy and active lifestyle.
Bulk Powders goes on to point out that it’s also (give or take 100,000) the number of UK sufferers of diabetes, and that the vast majority of sufferers see the disease brought on by inactivity and obesity.
A Bulk Powders spokesperson added, ‘It’s a fantastic demonstration of the law of unintended consequences. The older generation don’t understand nutrition or even the basics of well-being. They tax good health and leave pasties and cake at zero rate.’
