All about VAT

HARVEY: Good morning, I'm phoning about the nonpay­ment of my invoice.

ACCOUNTANT: Could I have the reference number, please?

HARVEY: My invoice reference is 4508 and your client number for me is 2075.

ACCOUNTANT: And can you tell me how much it was for?

HARVEY: £590 plus 103.45 VAT, a total of 693.45.

ACCOUNTANT: Oh yes, here it is. Carpets in Companies Ltd. Well, Mrs. Harvey, it seems that we've already paid your bill.

HARVEY: Well, I certainly haven't received it. When was it paid?

ACCOUNTANT: The order was givento our bank on the 10th. That's ten days ago. And the amount was debited on the 11th.

HARVEY: Didn't you send a cheque?

ACCOUNTANT: No, since the beginning of this year we only make payments by bank transfer.

HARVEY: Oh, that might explain it then.

ACCOUNTANT: I'm sure if you check your bank account, you'll find a credit from us.

HARVEY: Hold on a second, I'll just check the statement. Oh, I am sorry to have bothered you. It's here. Our new software package separates out the VAT, and I was looking for £693 instead of £590.

ACCOUNTANT: Good. All's well that ends well, as they say. Goodbye, Mrs. Harvey.

HARVEY: Goodbye and thanks.

ACCOUNTANT: Don't mention it. Bye.

Dialogue 3

Mr. Johnston, an American businessman, is in England. He is visiting Textafabrik, a firm which manufactures textile machinery. In this con­versation he negotiates a deal with Jack Evans, Textafabrik's Sales Manager.

JOHNSTON: About those stitching machines, Mr. Evans. I called my colleagues in New York last night. They've given me the go-ahead to purchase. We want to place a firm order for the PX5.

EVANS: Excellent. How many do you want to buy?

JOHNSTON: We'd like five for immediate delivery, and thirty in two months' time. By the end of June, that is.

EVANS: I see! That^'s a very substantial order. Of course, I'm delighted.

JOHNSTON: Perhaps I'd better explain. I represent a very large textile group. We've got plants in most of the major cities on the East coast. So, our buying requirements are considerable.

EVANS: I^'m sorry, I wasn't aware of that. I mean, I didn^'t realize you were that big.

JOHNSTON: My fault. I should have made it clear. We need the stitching machines fairly urgently. Recently our factories have been working below capacity, but last week we got some big orders from a clothing store chain.

EVANS: Ah, so you'll be going flat out to fulfill them.

JOHNSTON: Exactly.

EVANS: Well, you know the price of the machines — four thousand five hundred pounds (£4,500). That^'s without freight and insurance. When we invoice customers, we usually quote prices f.o.b. Southampton. But perhaps you'd prefer the goods to go by air?

JOHNSTON: No, air freight^'s too expensive. They can go by sea. But if you don't mind, 1'd like you to quote CIF New York. We prefer it that way.

EVANS: All right, we can do that. You want us to quote for thirty-five PX5s, CIF New York, goods to be shipped by sea.

JOHNSTON: Correct. There's one other thing. As this is a bulk order, I was wondering...

EVANS: Yes?

JOHNSTON: What sort of discount could you offer me? Would five percent be reasonable?

EVANS: Uh, I don't think we could go as high as that. As a special concession... since you're a new customer, I could possibly give you two per cent (2%) off list price.

JOHNSTON: Two per cent (2%)? That's not much. This order will be worth over a hundred and fifty thousand pounds (£ 150.000) to your company.

EVANS: Yes, I realize that.

JOHNSTON: And don't forget, we may place orders for some of your other machines...

EVANS: I tell you what. I don't want to haggle with you about this. How about two-and-half per cent (2,5 %)?

JOHNSTON (hesitates): Eh... Oh, I suppose that's fair enough. OK then, agreed.

EVANS: Good. Let's recap, shall we? We^'re agreed on price, delivery dates - five immediately, thirty by the end of June — and on the discount, two-and a half per cent (2,5 %). What else is there to discuss?

Ответьте на вопросы:

l. What did Mr. Johnston's colleagues tell him'?

2. How many machines did he want to buy? Why did he need so many machines?

3. Was the price quoted FOB or CIF?

4. How much discount did Mr. Johnston ask for? Did they haggle for a long time?

5. What was the final discount? Why was he given a special concession'? What is the difference between _.a discount and a concession?

6. What questions were discussed in the dialogue?

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