BAYKO and Purchase Tax

Most countries on the planet have some sort of taxation on the value of things which are sold to the general public. Purchase Tax, in the United Kingdom, was just such a tax. Across the E.U. today, Value Added Tax, is levied equally on goods sold and services provided and so is distinct from, and, indeed, in the U.K., actually replaced, Purchase Tax.

Historically there had been other flirtations with such taxes, but world war 2 produced the Temporary Purchase Tax Act (1940) which introduced 3 different rates of Purchase Tax - 11%, 16% and 27.5%. This now confuses me a little, because the rate applied to BAYKO sets seems to have been about 22%. I can only assume that this was 16% for the government, and 6% for Plimpton! Proof, were it needed that this tax, introduced on April 6th, 1940 would have been masked somewhat by the general inflation pressures brought on by wartime shortages.

As an interesting aside, BAYKO Manuals, when sold separately, were exempt from Purchase Tax, taking advantage of a long established piece of British social engineering under which books, newspapers, pamphlets, etc., were tax free to avoid the political accusation of "taxing education".

More to follow as soon as I can get get hold of the information. I've tried various approaches so far and been equally unsuccessful via each route - but I'll keep trying!

Salford, 2002
'Daily Telegraph'
Property Section

May / June 1995
'Classic Toys Magazine'
BAYKO Article