Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association (CSNA) have urged retailers to keep an eye on potential losses due to VAT applied to newspaper and magazines. All Newspapers are 0% VAT and some magazines and periodicals are also 0% rated, it noted. All annuals are rated as free from VAT and are charged to retailers with 0% VAT applied. According to CSNA, retailers that do not correctly identify those titles that do not attract 9% or 23% VAT and allow incorrect or incomplete details to be entered into a VAT-liable-category are creating an unnecessary VAT liability for themselves. 'Check your delivery dockets and make note of the zero-rated titles and ensure that they are listed accordingly,' the group noted. CSNA provided retailers with an example of the loss the can incur on every occasion they incorrectly place a 0% rated product into the 9% column here.' The bottom line is that your 25% margin is slashed to 16.7%,' CSNA concluded.
Indian farmers have planted 39.8 million hectares (98.3 million acres) with rice, up 3.7% on the same period last year, farm ministry data showed, as record high prices prompted farmers to expand the area, reports Reuters. Higher rice planting could alleviate supply concerns in the world's second biggest producer and consumer of the grain. India surprised buyers in July by imposing a ban on the export of widely consumed non-basmati white rice, following a ban on broken rice exports last year. New Delhi's decision to ban overseas shipments of its largest rice export category would be likely to roughly halve shipments by the world's largest exporter of the grain. "Farmers are very interested in rice, but the weather is not supporting the planted crop. In southern states, the crop is facing moisture stress," said a New Delhi based dealer with a global trade house.
Spanish retailer Mercadona has opened a second hub in Boadilla del Monte in the Community of Madrid to boost online services offered by its existing facility in Getafe. Mercadona has invested €13.2 million in the facility that will initially serve the towns of Boadilla del Monte, Alcorcón and Villaviciosa de Odón, reports ESMmagazine.com. In due course, it will extend its service to other areas in the Community of Madrid, such as Leganés, Parla and Tres Cantos. The hub, with around 150 staff members, will be accessible to consumers through the retailer's website, or the app. Orders will be delivered from 7:00 to 22:00 from Monday to Saturday. Customers can also order 'ready-to-eat' products, such as omelettes and Russian salad, along with other household items. General manager of Mercadona Online, Juana Roig, added that the new hub will help the retailer extend its online shopping service to more customers in the Madrid region – one of its main markets. "We continue to take steps so that the maximum number of customers can shop online at Mercadona in a simple and convenient way, as well as generating a sustainable business in the long term," Roig added.
