now brown plans new tax on pub quizzes - laser measuring devices

Gordon Brown was involved in a new tax dispute last night as secret plans to tax bar quizzes were revealed.
A confidential order obtained by The Post on Sunday against parliamentary tax investigators said "friendly" bars with quiz nights, football teams or dart boards would be forced to pay higher business prices, this will pay for Labor's public expenses.
Expenditure plan.
The plan could lead to a sharp tax increase in bars considered "popular", which was condemned last night by the Conservative Party, which claimed it could lead to landlords canceling quizzes and other social activities.
Shadow local government minister Eric Pickles says Gordon Brown is planning a raid on central England to tax bar quizzes.
Labor does not understand that if the bar is subject to an additional tax for supporting social facilities, the landlord may abandon them. 'The pub-
Quiz tax disclosed in guidance notes drafted by the government
Operating the Valuation Office Agency, which is using 60-
Page description entitled "Non"
Domestic Rating reference manual.
The agency is using a £ 13 million computer database operated by mysterious US contractors to conduct a similar survey of all British families.
The guidance on how to set the bar Price tells the inspector to consider a number of factors: "Pay attention to any TV (
Including satellites)
Facilities, quiz night, swimming pool, darts or league football team.
Does the bar look friendly and popular?
In addition, the pool and darts "facilities" must be logged in with "beer garden, children's play area and bowling alley.
Inspectors must obtain a price list for beer, wine and spirits and evaluate the type of bar such as "standard local country bar ["or]
This shows that pleasant locals will have to pay more than dirty student bars.
The manual explains how inspectors should visit the bar with their ID card, tape
Measuring or laser measuring devices, digital cameras, and clipboard.
They even took math classes on how to make sure the bar is taxed every square inch, including math formulas for calculating "Diamond", "ladder" and "non-triangle" areas [11-sided shapes]'.
Manual for the last business-
The price review of 2005 did not mention a "friendly" bar or quiz night, specifically pointing to income not related to the sale of alcohol, such as "video recorders, telephones, record machines and pool tables ", should not be used as an excuse to raise commercial interest rates.
There is no such exemption in the new manual.
It is worth noting that Prime Minister Alistair Darling slipped out the document in a written response to Parliament on July 25.
That was the day before the summer recess in the House of Commons, when many members had already started their holidays.
This is a typical New Labor strategy for "burying bad news" because it is unlikely to be reviewed if members of Congress are not around.
Unlike the old guidelines available for inspection on the Internet, the new guidelines appear only on the internal intranet of the institution and are inaccessible to the public.
Now Mr Darling is forced to put a copy in the library of the House of Commons where members of Congress can study it.
The business rate is set to 44 of the property's rated value, so if a bar's pay-per-class value increases by £ 1,000 because it attracts additional customization with regular Q & A nights or because it has the 'friendly' atmosphere, the bill will increase by £ 440 a year.
At large bars, the figure could be much higher and they pay up to £ 50,000 a year.
Instead, a remote country bar pays a tax rate of £ 1,000 per year, and its tax bill may double under the new rules.
Mr. Pickles, a Conservative spokesman, said: "These tax collectors are preparing to revalue people's houses with the same big brother technology.
Dave Hogarth of the National Bar quiz Network said: "The public is already working hard to cope with bad weather and non-smoking, and the quiz is designed to replace the income lost in quiet nights.
They should not be punished for this.
Caroline Nodder, editor of Publican magazine, said the bar would accept the news "very badly" and added: "The bar has been hit by red tape and rising costs from all sides and finds it hard to survive.
New business-
The valuation of interest rates will be finalized by 2009 and will take effect on 2010.