Everybody wants a box of chocolates and a long-stemmed rose

Yesterday prezzybox.com, who are usually quite sensible and useful people, sent me an email advertising their range of "personalised gifts" for Christmas.

( It made me cross )

Slightly rippled with a flat underside

So. Some think-tank, somewhere, has suggested that VAT be made more simple.

The sentence our office picked out of this report was this:

Extending VAT to most spending would "reduce complexity and avoid costly distortions to consumption choices", the report said.

We tried - and we tried quite hard - to understand this. And failed. Yes, extending VAT would reduce complexity (for businesses, if not for end consumers). But that other bit... how does that work? In what way does VAT cause "costly distortions" that would be fixed if everything attracted VAT?

(exspelunca, I'm looking at you for help here!)

( I think it'd be a great shame if the plans are carried through )