scoobyboy

register on this site www.lesstaxonfuel.co.uk it's free, download the poster and put it in the car to show your support maybe we can make this government open their eyes to the power of the people!

Iain Young

So, if they reduce tax on fuel, where do you suggest they get the money from instead then?

The country needs a certain amount of money to operate, and if you remove a big chunk of money like this, either they'll have to cut back on public services, or raise taxes elsewhere to compensate.

Just interested to hear your solution...

TonyG

Hmmm... haven't taxes been raised elsewhere anyway?

PG

lmao @ power of the people !!
a wee poster in your car is going to have them quivering in their boots.

BlkKnight

surely the logical aproach would be to have a "fixed" tax on fuel - rather than a percentile?

OllyK

Fuel Duty is fixed, the VAT on top however is percentage based, so heads they win, tails we loose.

Iain Young

I still haven't heard anyone suggest where they would get the money instead though. Fuel taxes contribute a hell of a lot to the economy every year, and so if this was cut, there would be a huge black hole to fill in the treasury. Either something would have to go, or taxes would be raised elsewhere. Simple economics....

matt neil

we could stop killing people in other countries for oil rights which are now costing us more and start spending that on not killing people at home...

SiDHEaD

They could "cut" it to a level where they don't receive an increase. They aren't therefore losing anything but their "increase".

jjones

what money "instead"???

the VAT on the higher price generates MORE income for the government. a reduction in this extra tax does not require it to be found elsewhere???

jjones

my point exactly. people seem to forget that every time the price per litre goes up the government are cashing in with the VAT part of the taxation.

OllyK

Hold on, due to the VAT the exchequor gains everytime prices rise, they could reduce the fuel duty so that they still get the same amount of revenue and reduce the rate at which the fuel price is rising. If Brown wasn't doing such a pi$$ poor job of managing the economy this may be feasible, however, I suspcect he see this as an opportunity to rake in yet more cash to try and plug some of the holes in the economy.

ozzy

Iain, you're assuming the don't collect enough tax from elsewhere or don't waste it on poor administration or White Elephants (like the Dome or the Scottish Parliament).

Is it simple economics or bad accounting??

Do the Goverment publish actual taxation figures for the Public to see where it all comes from and where it all goes??

The Government can do something about fuel prices. Maybe they should ease the burden on the public by reducing tax or dipping into some reserves in the budget. Or they could simply shrug their shoulders and let us lot pay for it. Afterall we're used to just accepting things with a stiff upper lip.

Stefan

OllyK

They had a budget surplus when the Tories handed the economy over, they have manged to turn that in to a £38+ Billion defecit though.

Iain Young

But surely it's not as simple as that. They could reduce duty etc to compensate for the VAT, but that does not mean the government will get the same amount of income as a result. You also have to factor rising costs, inflation etc into the equation. The value of money is not static.

I agree that the government wastes a lot of money. However, this cannot be fixed overnight (it's simply not feasible), and I'm not sure that this administration is capable of doing so anyway. If they reduce the amount of money coming into the treasury, then there will be an even bigger black hole than there is now, thus requiring tax rises in other places to try and cope with the shortfall.

This problem is much bigger than just the current price / tax level of fuel. It has more to do with the way the country is being run, and the huge leech that is the benefit system. Trouble is that for anyone who tried to tackle this, it would be political suicide for them and their party (the benefit loving chavs would never vote for it).

FASTER MIKE!!

but how can you justify 15p per litre over the last 6 months? its just an easy way for them to take money off the public. the price of peterol now is just plane stupid, and wont help the economy one bit

imlach

..of which, only 2.625p of that 15p goes to the government....the oil companies are taking the other 12.375p.

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

Surely it is a clever plan to heavily tax fuel.

Everything used for transport needs fuel, everything that ends up for sale on the high street needs transport to get it there. All manufacturers need to make a profit so the cost of transportation gets passed back to the customer - everything from a loaf of bread to car parts need transport to get them onto the shelves.

Government don't directly control the price of fuel leaving the refinery, but the increased fuel prices will have a knock on effect on the price of most other things and there is 17.5% share of those increses going back to Government. So really we end up paying twice when the oil prices go up.

How long before we are back to daylight tax????

TT

carl

<AJRimmer>"I say we hit them with a major, and I mean major, leaflet campaign"</AJRimmer>

scoobyboy

for every £50 you put in your tank the government take £37 it says on that site, do you think thats fair? i certainly don't.

imlach

Don't worry....the site is wrong.

At £1/litre, the goverment are only taking just over £31 of your £50. You probably still think that's bad, but at least it's factual.

That site is updated daily, yet they fail to update that price statistic. Bit norty. Propoganda at its best.

FASTER MIKE!!

yea but thats on top of the 67% they're also getting plus the VAT

rr_ww

I like the bit where poor people cant clutter up the roads

I sadly dont think any form of protest will make the slightest impact on the Government. And blocking refineries isnt the best way to stop the wheels of power from turning. Blair will still be whisked away in his 65 litre Jag. Complete with double glazed windows. He'll just turn the radio up a notch.

Also people ask where we'll get the Tax income from if they reduced fuel to 50% tax. But the other major European countries seem to manage. Maybe its that Labour arent very good at keeping the books straight.

And on that subject. Why is it always people that havent run businesses that are given key Government jobs. If Sir Richard Branson ran for PM Id vote for him in an instant. At least he could make the place run profitably. Same as Bernie Ecclestone, Conran and others

imlach

At £1/litre, the government get 62% INCLUDING the VAT.

pugoetru

At £1/gallon, yea we wish lol

FASTER MIKE!!

the government get 67% duty the VAT is on top of the duty

pugoetru

yea they put my lpg up too robbers i now pay 32.9 a litre

imlach

Eh? 67% of what? Fuel duty is not charged as a %-age, it is a FIXED amount.

Fuel duty is 47.1p/litre.
At £1/litre, VAT is 14.9p.

That makes 62p, which is 62% of £1.

Kyl3cook

They should cut taxes on petrol by half.

Then, to recoup the money, they could stop spending it on

a) millenium domes
b) benefits (for people that don't deserve them)
c) supporting illegal imigrants
d) tv's and snooker tables for prisoners
e) food for prisoners
f) medication for prisoners
g) prisoners

...and the could instead tax

a) push bikes on the road
b) horses on the road
c) old people on the road (200% normal tax)