tiggers,

You can blame the Oil Companies so much since their costs have risen. The problem is that fuel us taxed so highly that Oil Companies can't absorb a lot of the prices.

At the end of the day, it's not the Oil Companies that have set the price at over 80p per litre. Yes, the recent increase is the cost of oil directly, but the % of tax is still the same regardless.

Quite frankly everyone has the right to take a pop at the Government right now IMHO.

Stefan

I don't care, but I pointed that fact out because everyone always moans about the UK as if tax here is 50% and tax anywhere else is 0.004%.

Then (IMHO) you should give a lot more examples than just Germany who've always had a reputation for high taxation (well in my short lifetime anyway).

A comparison between all the major European Countries would be a better comparison as well as US, Oz & Canada. If people are fed up here, that's usually were they look at moving to.

Stefan

Is that because of low tax over there, or the minor fact of their native language? :p

I didn't mean just US, Oz & Canada - I did mean major European Countries too, but you're probably right :)

Just so happens they have lower fuel pricing and cheaper consumable goods too :p

...and no NHS.

I think youll find that its more than 29% of you earned income is taken by the government!!!!!!!!

Lets think 10% then 23% then 40% (if Youre lucky enough)
Insurance premium tax
Road Tax
VAT
Stamp Duty
National Insurance
Have i forgotten something im sure i have????


DOnt forget everything u buy has tax in it from the vat on the items bought to the tax the company paid on its profits to sell it to u.

I think you'd find it was nearer 50% than 29% possibly even more.???

Can I ask... when choosing your Impreza, wasn't the fact that they consume fuel as fast as buggery not a concern..? Cummon people, If you want fuel consumption to be better buy one of these..http://www.aixam.co.uk/

Ok so not having a dig at the goverment for petrol prices as that is due to things outside of there control but as it seems a lot of this thread is about tax and how it is spent I would also like to ad the that no one has yet mentioned the blood sucking benefit sucks of this country that also suck a lot of money from our tax and also those nice people who want to come and live over here and then claim benefit having never contributed a single thing to this country apart from bringing a few new diseases over and clogging up my local AE and hospital beds.

And whilst we are on it Speeding fines where does that money get spent!? On the M25 they are claiming to have caught over 16000 motorists speeding in the roadworks between J12 and J16!!! So at £60 a throw that is nearly £1,000,000 will that be put back into the roads or police.........?????? I think not.

Rant over thought i would join in

If it makes you all any happier I live in Germany and get 49% of my salary deducted at source each month for various taxes and insurances.

We also pay 16% VAT and we almost pay the same for petrol as the UK so now please tell me who is worse off here????

The standard of living here is slightly better but you can not vivit a doctor/dentist here unless you have health insurance of some type, winge about the NHS all you like but at least you have one.

I was paying €300 amonth for medical insurance here I have subsequently changed to axa PPP and pay 57 quid a month for better coverage.

Wurzel, thanks for enlightning the uninformed that the grass is NOT always greener.
Phew.

and that's a problem? as I said, when I needed it I had to go private and it cost me the thick end of £2K. Let me pay into a private health scheme or private insurance instead.

I wouldn't move to Germany either as I've heard all this before from two of my Uncles. One has lived there for 30 years, the other commutes from the Czech Republic to work.

If I remember from my trip there 2 years ago, the cost of goods was still a good bit cheaper than the UK.

Stefan

You're still only telling us that the grass is NOT greener in Germany. Let's get some impartial info for the rest of Europe too.

At the end of the day, if the majority aren't happy they are well capable of doing something about it. Either move and find out if it is actually better or not OR get rid of the current government.

The UK is fine if you earn enough to keep a good level of disposable income.

Stefan

Impartial view of spanish islands, majorca, gran canaria etc for instance??

hmmm they pay 5-10% tax instead of our 17.5%

they pay 20-30% income tax instead of our 23-40%

there are provincial taxes aswell tho







HOWEVER their roads are sh#te, its full of sh#tty spanish, the foods crap, the language isnt english, houses cost a fortune, you cant drink the tap water, you sh#t in a hole instead of a toilet (well in hotels anyways) , get bitten to death everywhere you go (including those ugly fat leech things---- drunk english girls to anyone who doesnt know:) )

Oh and i forgot to say if u dont like fish, chips or pizza youre fooked!!!!!!!!

ho hum life in good old blighty aint so bad after all

:)

As for the government, the point i would like to make is the vast amount of money collected in taxes and not forgetting the loans and bonds the government have taken out what defecit do we have now 29 billion ??. yet what do we have to show for it ??. Awful roads, everything privatised, NHS service falling apart, mediocre schools. but dont worry we will still be letting in refugee's to make the situation worse and more bueracrats to waste even more money.

WHY because of the sheer amount of money wasted in irrelevant bobbins. And this iso 3 supplier rule the uk.gov has needs changing as we get ripped off on anything the government buys. they probably pay £10 for a 10p pen. From a company that a politician owns.

I refer to the government as a company, and that company would of been bust a long time ago, the board and ethos needs changing asap IMO.

Hawkeye, you have obviously been to the crappy tourst areas of Spain, Ive been working in Madrid and Barcelona during the week for the past 3 weeks. The cities are cleaner than the UK, yes you have to drink bottled water, there is definatly a toilet in my hotel.

The roads in Barcelona are fantastic, 3 4 lane main trunks through the city with bus lanes. Ok so the spaniards drive like asses in 2nd gear everywhere and every car has a dozen scuffs on it.

Food is fantastic, fresh and normally local produce. The amount of heavy industry is scary but it isnt as bad as i remember Ibiza Majorca and the costa brava.

The spaniards are strange, but they have one thing which we british lack, balls to change something they dont like. and dont just bitch about hoping the government will change it be reading a public forum.

pbee agreed hence why in my statement it said "spanish islands" mainland spain is a different case and as to the spanish having "balls" im not so sure im sure i got a couple on my spaghetti last time i visited ;)

...err, which is exactly what YOU are doing :D

Well the NHS service is a load of crap anyhow.
Waiting lists, poor service and its just a joke.
So your not missing too much here then.

And well yes the recent rise for petrol increases may not be the goverments fault but they have put a stupid ammount of TAX on fuel anyway in the first place.
Does that make them ok though and fine not to discuss their over inflated tax system?
NOPE!

We pay a lot of TAX and IMHO we don't get a lot back from them really.

Think about it though...

We live in a system that has always been taxed from the early days of the King & queen and we are used to tax from back then.
Great way of power to force peasants to pay to keep them rich etc.

I wonder if the queen sees any of this TAX though?

And if she does then what is the point of that to keep the royals fat n rich while they sit on their fat arses now and do nothing except look all proper and all. la de da de!!
They do nothing for our country and are only a novelty item that sits pretty on the mantle,piece...

hehehehe

Not a royalist, BUT...

I suspect the tourist revenue generated by those from the USA/Asia that seem obsessed over our 'Royal Family' probably covers their expenditure...

In the grand scale of things, I don't think the Royals cost a great deal anyhow.

Err... I think you'll find it IS the governments fault that petrol is going up- remember that war in Iraq?
With regard to tax- nobody should mind tax increase if there is more to show for it. However wasting £20bn on worsening productivity in schools and NHS isn't part of the plan I'm sure. Blair would do better sorting out efficiency than thinking of new stealth tax (all imo):)

Im not exactly a royalist either BUT i find it funny how a thread bout petrol prices ends up with us plotting to dethrone the queen, viva the revolution

Please remember that the cost of the NHS is rising year on year.

a) life expectancy is increasing

b) there are more treatments than ever

c) drugs are getting more & more expensive (you don't see anyone here blaming the big multinational drug companies!)

d) the public are a lot more aware of treatments available now, and want them all ASAP

The cost of the NHS can onyl continue to keep on rising in the future. It WILL require more investment just to keep things normal, let alone budgeting for new treatments, and more patients.

It's all too easy to slag it off. Are any of you actually involved in running the NHS? Do you all know these issues?

This is why the NHS needs reform because it is getting ever more expensive. However every Government is afraid to do that.

Yes, but my point is that the taxation levels have not changed from this time last week so why weren't you bleating them.

As for the government - of curse you can take a pop at them, but don't forget to thank them when you make all that money when you sell your house.

tiggers.

Wouldn't mind seeing the final figure of what 75% tax on all fuel sold in UK (exept farmers etc.) comes to.

Anyone know or hazard a guess.


Wonder if the government will think abot putting the stamp duty level on housing up a bit, 60,000 pounds doesn't buy much these days, and even the 2% and 3% levels are set stupidly.
One good thing I have just noticed is thatnew build houses for sale in poor areas near me are exempt from stamp duty, which is good for 1st time buyers, as its the only areas they can afford a house rather than a flat.

...and what will reform do? Cost an arm & a leg for starters. :D

At the end of the day, the NHS needs more money. That means higher taxes (got through fuel duty or however).

..and when will people STOP this $hit about how fuel duty should ALL be spent on the roads. FFS, it is general taxation.

Do you think the tax on your beer & wine goes on supporting the infrastructure for drinkers?

lol, well that may be fine if you own a house but i live in Blackpool with the highest rise in house prices in the UK.
I am looking to buy a house at the moment and everything is more or less out of my reach if it were not for the fact i have a parnter who is going joint on the mortgage.

Here is one reason why house prices are soaring in Blackpool.

3 years ago i could of bought a house for £45,000 and now that same house is valued at 90,000.
Now in places like London prices have always been higher but then again the average wage for people was higher so therefore that makes sense for londoners.

What some, not all are doing is selling their £240,000 house down in London then moving up to blackpool and buying a similar house down here for £100,000 and then having £140,000 to play with.
A quick get rich scheme that is over inflating our house prices and having a damaging effect on people from blackpool because very soon no one will be able to afford a mortgage on minimum wage of £4.50 an hour.
And how much is minimum wage in London?

If nothing gets sorted out soon we will soon see motgage lenders extending there loan term to 40 years to make it realistic for first time buyers to actually get a house in Blackpool etc.

Im not saying that this is the whole reason of the problem but it has counted towards it and not helped first time buyers in Blackpool whatsoever.

And before anyone says owt about it i will just let you all know that my father owns a property company and these facts however, hard for some to bear, are true. ;)

But getting back to tax and all other stuff.
How can all other things go up in price and the cost of living be more and your wages remain the same?

Well, where do you start. I really dont mind paying tax, I dont earn much so I guess it affects me quite a bit, I do mind paying loads of stealth taxes, fuel taxes affect me as I stay in rural Scotland, VAT on fuel affects me more as I use more because I stay in cold, damp, rural Scotland. Before someone says move I'd love to move but cant due to family commitments.

What really pisses me off though is now I hear that the big power companies are saying fuel (gas, electricity) costs will soon be going up at least 20% due to the lack of investment over the years. Yeah, lack of investment only because of w@nker shareholders always wanting a profit and w@nker fat cats giving them said profit so they can get their hefty £Million bonuses.

I wish Imlach would realise that high costs of certain non-luxury products such as fuel affect those less well off who are the least likely or able to do anything about it.

Imlach, do you think someone living in a ****ty damp, mouldy old tennement in Glasgow 'wants' to pay a small fortune in fuel costs just to keep them alive over the winter? Well the same is happening with motoring, soon the rich 'ivory tower' elite will be the only people in cars.