Good job our economy is doing so well....

[Freddie]

£3.35 per gallon Vote for Tony

 

[pipme]

Vote FOR emigration ....... to Oz or anywhere ..... strange is it not, when people carry usable skills and stay in a dirty, overcrowded, filthy weathered, corrupt Island .. when they could have more of the same but even more in the areas that count, elsewhere ..... One shot folks, this ain't a rehearsal ... No prizes for struggling through Oct to March just arthritis to come.

 

[Damocles]

I will not be voting for Blair, Brown, Prescott or Howard. Fuel taxes should go up and income taxes should go down. Better to put the encouragement on people to use less fuel rather than to work less.

House prices are utterly absurd and are totally a result of SHORTAGE. This is mostly a result od NIMBYism.

 

[pipme]

Click Where does all the money go ?

.. Incredibly, it is legal in the United States to handle money from crimes committed abroad, including racketeering, securities fraud, forgery, counterfeiting, human trafficking, slave trading, prostitution and tax evasion...

You don't say ?? Never would have believed it-not

 

[Thermo]

so then damocles, how is motoring more affordable? Is that a staement you believe in and can explain or was it tongue in cheek?

 

[AdamW]

House prices are utterly absurd and are totally a result of SHORTAGE. This is mostly a result od NIMBYism.

I think they need to build millions of new houses. Not near me though...

Perhaps there are reasons behind our housing shortage? With an average British family having 1.8 children now, we have no need of extra houses... provided we tackle the "i"-word.

Nice idea on the fuel/income tax though. I would be fully in favour of it as I live near work, so would benefit immensely! Of course we know what would happen: fuel tax would go up, income tax wouldn't go down.

 

[pipme]

Beat the stealth tax / fines !! Britons turn expat to beat all the fines http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1566595,00.html

More for the crunch Downloaders face court as record bosses strike back
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1567228,00.html

...Last month it was announced that a further 31 people were being investigated. They will receive letters today after the disclosure of their identities by internet service providers...

Some, or is it most EU countries are taking care of their own ... Not gonna let Brittania rule the roost !! I often wondered what they all thought of 'Britain at the head / helm of the EU' I can guess !! and do not blame them --

....German law prevents debt collectors from obtaining a driver's identity from his numberplate. The fee charged by France's licensing agency for identifying a driver exceeds the amount that the authority could hope to recover. Scandinavian countries give the driver's name and address, but 'most drivers respond by throwing the letter in the bin and it is very difficult to pursue them through foreign courts' ....

 

[david and julie]

I will not be voting for Blair, Brown, Prescott or Howard. Fuel taxes should go up and income taxes should go down. Better to put the encouragement on people to use less fuel rather than to work less.

Raising fuel costs would have a negative effect on the economy by raising manufacturing costs and reducing exports. These additional costs would also be passed on to the consumer, possibly increase inflation and hence benefits, negating any tax cuts(if they came which is unlikely). The only way round this would be to raise the VAT on fuel, which companies can claim back, however, if they did that a large proportion of the VAT rise would end up in the EU coffers, so our Gov would not fully benefit.

House prices are utterly absurd and are totally a result of SHORTAGE. This is mostly a result od NIMBYism.

We are not short of houses we just have too many people. House prices are going up(if they are) because of buy to let returns and security from renting to the publics sector. Look at this for sale as an example.

Residential Portfolio North London/Middx 2017 For Sale £12.5M
Portfolio of 19 freehold properties, incorporating 65 seperate units of 0ne and two bedroom flats all done to a very high standard, based around North London and Enfield areas. Held in a limited company, which has been operating for over twenty years. The business is managed by the owner with minimul staff, everything being fully computerised with an income of approximately £800,000 per annum, all let to the council. Comapny Purchase

The above is for sale here. http://www.vebra.com/
£800,000=£12307 PA or an average of£236 per week, all let to the council and paid for by the local council tax payers. This is what is putting up prices of houses because of the investment potential. I don't know the area and am not saying this one but similar investments are all over the country and often full of asylum seekers. If these returns weren't so safe and high these properties would be for sale individually for people to buy as homes. Stopping the foreigners and the investment potential, would reduce building and save the green belt. There are other ways if the politicians had the guts to admit we have too many scroungers and acted accordingly.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Raising fuel costs would have a negative effect on the economy by raising manufacturing costs and reducing exports. These additional costs would also be passed on to the consumer, possibly increase inflation and hence benefits, negating any tax cuts(if they came which is unlikely). The only way round this would be to raise the VAT on fuel, which companies can claim back, however, if they did that a large proportion of the VAT rise would end up in the EU coffers, so our Gov would not fully benefit.

Two things in this I don't quite follow: oil-prices are going up in the whole of Europe and surroundings, so the effect will be in every country. don't see how that reduces exports?

Second: us, consumers, cannot claim back VAT = higher costs = negative effect on economy. And why should the rise in VAT end-up in the EU coffers? (Or am I missing some basics?)

 

[Freddie]

Raising fuel costs would have a negative effect on the economy by raising manufacturing costs and reducing exports. These additional costs would also be passed on to the consumer, possibly increase inflation and hence benefits, negating any tax cuts(if they came which is unlikely). The only way round this would be to raise the VAT on fuel, which companies can claim back, however, if they did that a large proportion of the VAT rise would end up in the EU coffers, so our Gov would not fully benefit.

Two things in this I don't quite follow: oil-prices are going up in the whole of Europe and surroundings, so the effect will be in every country. don't see how that reduces exports?

Second: us, consumers, cannot claim back VAT = higher costs = negative effect on economy. And why should the rise in VAT end-up in the EU coffers? (Or am I missing some basics?)

It makes your goods more expensive with countries who dont pay so much or have so much tax on fuel or who have VAT to pay for the EU

 

[WoodYouLike]

O.K. follow you so far, but staying in Europe I thought GB with 17.5% VAT is still one of the lowest tarifs around?

And still don't understand paying VAT to the EU.

 

[david and julie]

Two things in this I don't quite follow: oil-prices are going up in the whole of Europe and surroundings, so the effect will be in every country. don't see how that reduces exports?

We are talking about two different rises here though, as you say all countries have the same increase when the barrel price of oil increases. However Damocles suggested reducing income tax and putting the cost on fuel, which is therefore in addition to any oil price barrelage rise. The only way round avoiding the rise in manufacturing costs, would be to use vat, as companies claim it back so would be unaffected.

A proportion of vat and duty is paid directly to the EU so the more the chancellor took off us the more he pays them. I am not sure of the exact ratio but if he raised vat from say 17.5% to 20% he would not get all the money. Which is why the EU are against zero rated supplies such as food, houses, books, kids clothes etc. This is what tax harmonisation is about in the constitution, they want every country to be in line with each other and have no zero rated supplies, which gives them a bigger slice of the action.

 

[WoodYouLike]

However Damocles suggested reducing income tax and putting the cost on fuel, which is therefore in addition to any oil price barrelage rise. The only way round avoiding the rise in manufacturing costs, would be to use vat, as companies claim it back so would be unaffected.

O.K. with you so far, but that would only tackle manufacturers costs for a minimum period: higher VAT = higher inflation for consumers = higher wages = higher manufacturers costs.

And round and round we go on the economy mary-go-round

 

[masona]

A proportion of vat and duty is paid directly to the EU so the more the chancellor took off us the more he pays them. I am not sure of the exact ratio but if he raised vat from say 17.5% to 20% he would not get all the money. Which is why the EU are against zero rated supplies such as food, houses, books, kids clothes etc. This is what tax harmonisation is about in the constitution, they want every country to be in line with each other and have no zero rated supplies, which gives them a bigger slice of the action.

We give 1% from the VAT to the EU. If we had not been members of the EU, England would by now have accumulated a surplus of cash so substantial that the Government would be able to pay off every household's mortage. The future savings would easily be great enough to enable the Government to abolish the tax on petrol.

Over £5 billion is lost in the EU because of corruption and the money just disappears. No one does anything about it.

 

[david and julie]

Thanks for that Masona, I believe they also take some of the duty charged on the likes of fags and booze etc, which was one of the reasons they stopped duty free. Although the excuse they gave was unfair competition at the time. Have you any info on these charges by any chance?

O.K. with you so far, but that would only tackle manufacturers costs for a minimum period: higher VAT = higher inflation for consumers = higher wages = higher manufacturers costs.

Not as much as you would think actually, although obviously some of the products used to calculate the inflation rate have VAT on them not all of them do. Examples would be council tax and food.This is why some products have a lower rate of duty(such as electric,gas and insurance), because they are used in the inflation calculation. Although I am note sure, I believe mortgages are now considered investments so may also not be included. His other options, which he seems to like, are stealth taxes, which in the main also have little effect on inflation. His cynical method here is to charge us more overall, but by choosing products not in the index, he keeps inflation down which enables him to keep benefits, pensions or wages rises etc, to a minimium.