Petrol Prices

Buffer

Although I would like to see a reduced duty on fuel for severely disabled people, as others have mentioned earlier. basically there is no chance in reality of it happening.

I think there maybe more chance of it being reduced for hauliers and the like in order to bring down the transportation costs of food etc to shops and supermarkets, but to be frank, with the government attacking benefits and benefit claimants at every opportunity, there is no way the disabled will get any concessions from the government.

Just look at the way they are rushing in Employment and Support Allowance and limiting Contributory ESA to one year, also changing DLA to PIP, both are in order to reduce the amounts paid to disabled people.

Reduced fuel charges for disabled people - nice thought but just not 'do able' under this current government.

pwales_2

not so much of a silly idea after all the goverment is already considering reductions to rural areas who rely heavely on vehicals.
disabled could easily be added into the legislation
Motorists in remote areas may be given a discount on the cost of fuel under plans being considered by the Government, Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander says.. Skip related content


'Discount fuel' for remote drivers Enlarge photo


There is increasing pressure for the Government to take action to reduce the burden on motorists faced with increasing prices at the pump, with ministers considering introducing a "fair fuel stabiliser".
Mr Alexander said the Government was also taking steps to introduce a "discount scheme" for drivers in remote communities who depend heavily on their cars but are faced with higher fuel costs.
David Cameron has indicated that a fuel duty stabiliser was being examined, although Mr Alexander acknowledged there were difficulties with the plan.
The concept of the fuel stabiliser is to peg fuel duty to the price of oil so that when the price of oil goes up the proportion of tax goes down, and vice versa, maintaining a steady price for consumers.
The Chief Secretary told BBC1's Politics Show: "We as a Government are looking at the idea of the fair fuel stabiliser, as the Prime Minister has been saying.
"It's a complicated idea and it's difficult to see precisely how we achieve it but it's something that we are looking at very carefully to see if we can reduce the burden of fuel duty.
"We are already also taking steps, and we are the first Government that's done this, to put in place a fuel duty discount scheme for remote communities where the prices are absolutely highest, something previous governments refused to do."
In the coalition agreement the Government committed to "investigate measures to help with fuel costs in remote rural areas, starting with pilot schemes". The measure was also contained in the Liberal Democrat manifesto at the general election.

Indie_Kid

But it's not as if those who don't live in remote areas can't use taxis or public transport - especially given the help there is in some cities for disabled people.

pwales_2

i dont live in a city ? i live rural, all green around me:j

anyway its the first step of the goverment taking notice that the amount of tax paid on fuel effects people who have to use extra fuel than would be normaly be used for everyday living.

now they have just got to realise that lower fuel costs to hauliers will mean lower prices for us on the shelves.

another thought is why cant hauliers be allowed to run on red?

sunnyone

pwales wrote: »

not so much of a silly idea after all the goverment is already considering reductions to rural areas who rely heavely on vehicals.
disabled could easily be added into the legislation
Motorists in remote areas may be given a discount on the cost of fuel under plans being considered by the Government, Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander says.. Skip related content


'Discount fuel' for remote drivers Enlarge photo


There is increasing pressure for the Government to take action to reduce the burden on motorists faced with increasing prices at the pump, with ministers considering introducing a "fair fuel stabiliser".
Mr Alexander said the Government was also taking steps to introduce a "discount scheme" for drivers in remote communities who depend heavily on their cars but are faced with higher fuel costs.
David Cameron has indicated that a fuel duty stabiliser was being examined, although Mr Alexander acknowledged there were difficulties with the plan.
The concept of the fuel stabiliser is to peg fuel duty to the price of oil so that when the price of oil goes up the proportion of tax goes down, and vice versa, maintaining a steady price for consumers.
The Chief Secretary told BBC1's Politics Show: "We as a Government are looking at the idea of the fair fuel stabiliser, as the Prime Minister has been saying.
"It's a complicated idea and it's difficult to see precisely how we achieve it but it's something that we are looking at very carefully to see if we can reduce the burden of fuel duty.
"We are already also taking steps, and we are the first Government that's done this, to put in place a fuel duty discount scheme for remote communities where the prices are absolutely highest, something previous governments refused to do."
In the coalition agreement the Government committed to "investigate measures to help with fuel costs in remote rural areas, starting with pilot schemes". The measure was also contained in the Liberal Democrat manifesto at the general election.

There are more horses than people where we live and its loads miles for the school run and the nearest supermarket but we did choose to buy here understanding the disatances invilved but we didnt choose the huge increases in diesel prices once we moved.

We are now both disabled (my husbands BB arrived this week and his DLA forms have been posted after a year of his doctors telling him to apply) and the cost of diesel is killing us.

pwales_2

you see easy its just not my words

pwales wrote: »

da

if you can afford an accountant you will pay none or a massive reduced amount of vat of everything

easy wrote: »

Where on earth have you got that idea from?

Sam Thewlis, 13:03, Tuesday 18 January 2011


There are many reasons in life to be envious of Premier League footballers, but top of most people's list would not be their tax bill - after all megabucks wages mean massive cheques to HM Revenue and Customs - right?
Apparently not. When you have large pots of cash, you can afford to pay the most scurrilous/gifted* tax advisers around to make sure you pay as little as possible, with footballers' effective tax rates quoted in the Sunday papers as low as 2%.
So what exactly are the professionals doing to score such a low rate and can you adopt the same formation without falling foul of the taxman?
Footballers aren't paid enough
The idea behind footballer tax planning, or indeed any celebrity well-known enough to be offered things like sponsorship deals and endorsement packages, is the fact that their actual salary could be considered a small proportion of their total earnings.
The tax rules relating to employment income are very tight, and as the duties of employment (i.e. playing football) are normally performed in the UK, in the main, earnings from employment will be taxable in full. There are even special provisions that make sure foreign sportsmen get taxed on a proportion of their earnings if they appear in the UK at any time - on the grounds that if they get sponsorship to wear Adibok clothing, then anytime they appear wearing said clothing, they are earning.
Of course, there are exceptions to the rules, like the Champions League 2011 final footballers, Olympic athletes and Tiger Woods and his Ryder Cup cronies, who have been given byes exempting them from these tax rules, on the basis that, if they were charged, they would not come.
Just so long as the tax system is fair and equitable…
Image rights companies and dual contracts
So how does the planning work? The first part of the planning involves the football club deciding how much the players are paid for playing and how much they are going to pay the player in anticipation of the sums they will earn from image rights.
Hence it is common practice among footballers to have two contracts when they sign for a club — one that they pay tax on under PAYE same as every other employee and another that they do the clever bits with.
Any payments made under the second contract are paid into a private (and possibly offshore) company — either a single entity wholly owned by the footballer in question or, in the case of team payments, a company where the players all own a stake.
In one swift pass, all that lovely employment income (subject to income tax at 50%) becomes income of a company and liable to corporation tax at 20% (or possibly 28% in Rooney's reported case).
Of course the income then belongs to the company and if the players want to get their hands on the cash, they will still have to pay income tax on any salary or dividends paid from that company, right? Er, no.
You see, the company never pays them anything, it simply loans them some money interest-free. This is classed as a benefit in kind — and is subject to a negligible levy of 2%, instead of the top income tax rate of 50%.
Not that it is much consolation, but do remember that if it is a UK company, it will be paying 20% corporation tax as well, bringing the total tax take on those earnings to 22%. Poor loves.
Can you dodge tax like a footballer?
There is certainly nothing to stop you from going to your employer and asking for them to draw up a separate contract for you, in order to pay your image rights income.
Unfortunately, unless you are rich, famous or extremely good looking (being the office dish is unlikely to be enough — unless people are always haranguing your employer for T-shirts emblazoned with your face), your image rights are likely to be worthless. Sorry.
HMRC has reportedly already obtained millions in underpaid tax from the bigger clubs in settlement of enquiries into 'overestimated' image rights payments.
OK so what can you do?
So assuming you are not rich enough to pay 2% tax, what can you do to dodge a tax hit?
Start with the basics — like equalising income between spouses to use as much 20% income tax band as possible and utilising annual exemptions and personal allowances.
Also look into investing in ISAs, where you get tax free growth, or consider pension planning in order to obtain a tax uplift on amounts invested, tax free growth and the possibility of a tax free lump sum at the end.
There are even things you can do that don't involve you spending your hard earned cash - if you have children, take up any childcare vouchers offered by your employer and save income tax and national insurance.
Rent a room to a lodger and earn up to £4,250 tax free. You could even consider the MPs' favourite, and save capital gains tax by 'flipping' your home. Read our guide How to cut your tax bill by thousands for more help.

vision2009

Campaign to cut the extortionate tax on fuel.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2227729802

vision2009

This is also a good campaign
http://www.causes.com/causes/434764-keep-fuel-below-1-00-per-litre

ubesco

Yeah I am with you on this one.

I've cut down on the use of the car by half this last year. Only do about 6000 a year now. Now use the bus passes which are more or less door to door. Not bad idea they aren't We now have one each and it saves a fortune.

So fuel price goes up - we do less miles - we use bus passes = more cost to council to pay bus company! Everyone's a winner apart from council, but we don't pay that any more as being on full benefits!

Peanuckle

Since it's a 3 mile walk to the nearest bus route to flag a bus down, and I can't walk anywhere near that, using a bus just isn't an option