'How much should petrol cost?' Poll discussion

gadgetmind

Out of interest, how does the fuel economy of small moped/motorbike compare to that of a small car? Many decades ago, young people with little money got around on two wheels.

ForumName_2

The government gets £40 billion a year in tax from fuel.

Only one third of this (about £13 billion) goes on the road network.

The other £27 billion, along with the £9 billion from cigarette tax goes to prop up our out of control benefit system.

The government has to get this money from somewhere so if they didnt get it from fuel and cigarettes, where do you suggest they get it from??????

zen_navigator

Well today 305 people have voted that it should be £2. So we can assume:

The 305 people who use this site have some kind of mental health issue or have more money that sense or work for the exchequer.

Watching a Alan Partridge last week and on one of his visits to his friend at the petrol station, I was reminded it was @ 80p. HAPPY DAYS.

ForumName_2

gadgetmind wrote: »

Out of interest, how does the fuel economy of small moped/motorbike compare to that of a small car? Many decades ago, young people with little money got around on two wheels.

My moped does around 120 to the gallon.

It was just above empty last week so I filled it up and it cost £5.68 to fill to the brim.

jackieb

gadgetmind wrote: »

I voted for £2k as that was the biggest number there. Even though we have two cars, we use them for only a few k miles a year, mainly because I use a bicycle for 99% of my trips.

Most car trips could be done in <20 mins by bicycle, and a large percentage in <20 mins even on foot, yet many people still automatically pick up the car keys as they leave the house. Madness.

:eek: £2k!

There's a bit of 'i'm alright Jack' there.

denerobt

The statement "Yet remember IF PETROL TAX WAS CUT OTHER TAXES WOULD RISE shifting the burden from motorists to others" gives us some insight into how we have come to the point where we assume taxing us is the only answer.

I have not heard at all at looking at a new system for weapons procurement which would save us billions, nor a single line mentioned anywhere regarding the exhorbitant costs of our MEP's? Why do we automatically assume we should be liable?

How about reducing petrol tax and instead put road duty on each litre, that way no one can avoid paying it - you fill your car you pay your duty, and those who use the roads more would pay more.

Rob, community nurse in rural Wales.

denerobt

I also forgot to say, why not have a very small levy on every stock / share transaction. why not make it .025% per transaction. firstly, there must be millions of transactions daily - not just in London, secondly, the amounts being traded back and forth would soon add up to a hefty bit I'm sure. Perhaps someone with some knowledge on how much we trade just via the London Stock Exchange could give some info on this.

I'm sure if the British governemnt brought this in, that other countries would see the benefits, at least then the traders would have a level playing field and not leave Uk staocks for other ones.

gadgetmind

jackieb wrote: »

There's a bit of 'i'm alright Jack' there.

There's also a fair bit of it as I cycle past mile after mile of stationary traffic, engines pumping out fumes, and drivers grinding their teeth.

On the other hand, on those very rare occasions where I do need to fill up with fuel, it is a bit of a shock to see £130 come up on the pump. I take this as an incentive to drive a lot less, and not to press the pedal as hard. Others take it as an excuse to have a good moan.

Remember folks, even at >>$100 per barrel, oil is currently cheap. We're not covering the replacement cost of it, nor figuring in the cost of the overseas wars we need to wage to keep it flowing.

gadgetmind

denerobt wrote: »

I also forgot to say, why not have a very small levy on every stock / share transaction. why not make it .025% per transaction.

It's called Stamp Duty Reserve Tax and it's currently at 0.5% for most share transactions in the UK.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_duty_in_the_United_Kingdom#Stamp_duty_reserve_tax

The last para of that section is interesting. "A unique feature of SDRT, compared to other purely domestic taxes in the United Kingdom, is that more than 40% of the annual intake is collected from outside the UK, thus creating an annual inflow of approx. £1.5 billion pounds from foreign investors to the UK government."

sharrison01

denerobt wrote: »

I also forgot to say, why not have a very small levy on every stock / share transaction. why not make it .025% per transaction. firstly, there must be millions of transactions daily - not just in London, secondly, the amounts being traded back and forth would soon add up to a hefty bit I'm sure. Perhaps someone with some knowledge on how much we trade just via the London Stock Exchange could give some info on this.

I'm sure if the British governemnt brought this in, that other countries would see the benefits, at least then the traders would have a level playing field and not leave Uk staocks for other ones.

Why would this be a fair tax? Of course the financial sector is an easy target but it is also our biggest source of income as a country and is an industry that is more mobile than most and more global than most. Taxing one sector to pay for others is not a fair way of doing things - if there is a real problem with fuel prices then surely energy companies would be a better target, especially when you look at the huge sums they are making and more importantly paying people as bonuses.

The financial sector obviously needs reforming because it cannot be allowed to use the government as their go to if things go wrong. Once the right measures have been put in place then it should not be obliged to pay any extra taxes than any other industry, otherwise in a few years there will be the same problem that we now have with fuel prices in that the unfair tax has pushed prices too high. With the financial sector though it would affect mortgages, loans, pensions, business development and pretty much anything else you can think of. It is a short sighted measure that will generate some income now at the expense of the future economy...