Broadband ISP PlusNet UK is likely to incur the wrath of some customers after it slipped in a number of sneaky, and potentially quite costly, service withdrawals and price adjustments under the guise of their forthcoming VAT rise news.

As you probably already know the rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) will go up from 17.5% to 20% on 4th January 2011. Most people have now become so use to seeing these announcements that they often don't bother to read the text, although in PlusNet's case that could prove to be a very costly mistake.

PlusNet has, like some other providers, decided to do more than merely adjust for the rate of VAT. Firstly their old "Unlimited" broadband package will see its price rise by a staggering £5 per month. From the 1st February 2011 PlusNet will also be introducing a £1.50 monthly surcharge for residential customers paying via credit or debit card.

However one of the most irritating changes is likely to be the ISPs removal of "300 inclusive international minutes" from their Talk Evenings & Weekends product. They'll also be removing a 25% discount to mobile phone numbers on their Talk Anytime package.

Naturally there are some product changes afoot. In particular PlusNet will be retiring its existing Talk Anytime product and launching a new Anytime service at a lower price point. The calling plan for this new product will cost £3.50 as opposed to £5 and will be available from 4th January 2011.

UPDATE 8:40am

It's worth pointing out that PlusNet has frozen the prices of all its residential broadband products with the exception of their legacy Unlimited product.