FreeT

If you think about it in these terms you might actually get a bit pi88ed off, we are paying 340% tax on fuel

How did you come up with the 340% figure?

For 1 litre of petrol, the petrol companies currently make 3.4p / litre profit.
When you pay 89.9p / litre, 86.5p of that is cost (supply, tax, duty etc).
The supply cost from the refineries currently runs at 19.7p / litre.
So at 0% tax, the cost is 19.7p.
At 100% tax, the cost is 39.4p.
At 200% tax, the cost is 59.1p.
At 300% tax, the cost is 78.8p.
At 340% tax, the cost is 86.5p - add on the 3.4p profit margin and there's your 89.9p litre.


Would you pay this much tax on anything else you buy and not complain?
If other consumer products were taxed at 340%:
2 pints of milk would cost £2.14
a loaf of bread would cost £1.58
a first class stamp would cost £1.13
a cinema ticket would cost £21.94
an no-frills evening out with dinner for two could cost £175.58
a pack of batteries would cost £21.89
a personal CD player would cost £566.26


[Edited by FreeT - 5/2/2002 2:49:33 PM]

juan

you gotta wonder what they heck they spend it on. Petrol tax must net them a fortune. Everything gets taxed, some things twice or more.

Would love US petrol prices

RVeiga

What they spent it on?

Several departments are the biggest employers in the country.

3 Million in the NHS, and it is still Sh!te and needs more money.

T0ss3rs!

Adam M

that argument is exactly why reducing fuel costs at teh source would show us a big gain.

Never mind the government on this one.

According to opecprice per barrel is going up. This means base price of petrol will increase. When you add tax at 340% onto that, we will be paying an extra 10p per litre by the summer according to the news.

Even if we could get the government to come down the same 1p per litre, we would get it post tax, whereas in a price war between oil compaines it would be pre tax and hence would yield much larger benefits for the consumer.

This isnt about the government needing to earn atx from elsewhere. The budget did not incorporate the fact that OPEC would increase their prices. This is extra tax that the government will receive which it had not budgeted for.

So on the face of it it is a good idea.

It wont work though for reasons already mentioned. Revenue being a pathetic proportion of their global income, and most profut being made from the supermarkets rather than the petrol pumps. That is why they have built the bloody things!

FreeT

Last year it netted the government 36Billion duid


YES i said 38billion quid - good question where does it all go?

Not on th roads - they ar enow reported at being 15 years past their design dates. Not public transport its private. Nhs is only getting a couple of billion more each year. I DONT KNOW!

FreeT

OOPS got that wrong its only £36billion is sucked out of motorist's pockets each year in tax. You buy the planet's most expensive petrol, but do you see that money going back into the roads? No you do not. A recent study pointed out that most of Britain's roads are up to 15 years beyond their structural refurbishment date. More to the point, your council tax and new car tax is supposed to pay for this, not the petrol duty!

enlighten ourselves with a little kowledge found here www.boycott-the-pumps.com

Neil F

People keep saying that it's pointless hitting the petrol outlets as the bulk of the oil companies' revenue is from industry.
If that's the case, why is the bloody stuff so expensive at the pump? Surely they can afford to get into a bit of a price war and give the poor beleagured old motorist a bit of a break?

Quick joke:

How can you tell a **** star at a petrol station?
He's the one who pulls the nozzle out and sprays over the car as the pump starts up.

Terrible I know but it is Friday.

Neil.