Oil Price Fixing For The Past 10 Years?

[6Foot2]

Link: BBC News - EU raids on oil firms raise petrol prices worries

 

This is still under investigation but I am sure that we all feel that we do indeed pay too much.

[Grey-gear]

Does not really surprise me, just hope something is done so this problem is fixed and will not happen again.

[mats]

After Libor, nothing surprises me.

 

I see the BBC spin it as a motorist issue (call the RAC foundation! Get a picture of a petrol pump!), but in a society built and powered (mainly) by fossil fuel it affects us all.

[mthomas08]

Not surprised by this and i get the feeling that nothing will change.

 

I am sure some one will get paid off to say "Nothing is happening here".

[Achandler]

If the price has been artificially high for 10 years, all that will happen is the government will fine the companies some miniscule amount compared to the profits they will have made from it and tell them to stop being naughty. Then later that night they will all go for a knees up at some exclusive place that their friends int he oil companies pay for.

 

Call me a cynic, but there will be no benefit to the man on the street at all. They aren't going to post us a refund.

[CAM]

They are only 10 years late reporting what everyone knew already!

[jinnantonnixx]

I'm no economist, but doesn't it suit the government to keep prices high? After all, more VAT is collected from a higher price than a lower price. Edited May 15, 2013 by jinnantonnixx

[tmcd35]

I'm no economist, but doesn't it suit the government to keep prices high? After all, more VAT is collected from a higher price than a lower price.

 

BP and Shell fixing the base price is a minor scandal compared with the taxmans share in fuel duty and VAT!

[Andrew_C]

I await my refund cheque with baited breath...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jamman960]

Not sure what to believe, the OFT declared the pricing was all find and dandy in January and we had the cheapest fuel in europe(pre-tax) - OFT rules out petrol prices investigation

 

I guess the best we can hope for is a small discount in price followed by the government deciding there is room for a little more tax.. I hate the fact that a "good" price for petrol at the moment is 129.7(Asda), back in 2005 89p was expensive

[Flatpackhamster]

BP and Shell fixing the base price is a minor scandal compared with the taxmans share in fuel duty and VAT!

 

Exactly. Three quarters of your fuel costs come from duty and VAT. It suits the government to pretend they aren't buggering us when they are.

[sted]

Exactly. Three quarters of your fuel costs come from duty and VAT. It suits the government to pretend they aren't buggering us when they are.

 

wouldnt be so bad if they spent the tax on transport but it just goes to a general pot fine for vat but if you tax an activity shouldnt that activity get the benefits rather than as now roads that are more hole than road, poor public transport (outside london which is hevily subsidised) but i think i saw some figures showing that less than a 1/4 of what the motorist puts in in tax goes anywhere near roads

[tmcd35]

Personally I'd prefer lower VAT and/or scrap fuel duty and have an extra 1p or 2p on income tax. I'm sure some environmentalist now want's me locked up for heresy and someones gonna pipe up "but I don't drive, why should I pay extra for roads I don't use"...

[sted]

Personally I'd prefer lower VAT and/or scrap fuel duty and have an extra 1p or 2p on income tax. I'm sure some environmentalist now want's me locked up for heresy and someones gonna pipe up "but I don't drive, why should I pay extra for roads I don't use"...

 

dosent sound unfair to me that way you are taxing on income rather than effectively taxing someone because they need to go somewhere

[Flatpackhamster]

wouldnt be so bad if they spent the tax on transport but it just goes to a general pot fine for vat but if you tax an activity shouldnt that activity get the benefits rather than as now roads that are more hole than road, poor public transport (outside london which is hevily subsidised) but i think i saw some figures showing that less than a 1/4 of what the motorist puts in in tax goes anywhere near roads

 

Cost of fuel duty (+VAT) to the UK motorist - £30Bn in 2012.

 

Department for transport's budget: £5.3Bn + 7Bn capital expenditure (2012) figures.

[Andrew_C]

Nuts. Scrap "Car Tax" and put a penny or two on fuel (sorry - 0.000375p/gal- that looks ridiculously little, maybe maths is out) based on a 40mpg car doing 10000 miles. About average I suppose.

 

That way if you choose to be frugal, you save, if you want to drive 20k plus miles in a Hummer, you pay for the privilege. For the double win, those useless clowns in Swansea would have to do some real work!

[ZeroHour]

Sadly even if this is found to be true I think normal consumers will see next to nothing if anything as a refund. On the other hand all the business's who keep invoice trails for company fuel use could try to claim at least.

Its not cash in the consumers pocket but it would help business's.

 

Nuts. Scrap "Car Tax" and put a penny or two on fuel (sorry - 0.000375p/gal- that looks ridiculously little, maybe maths is out) based on a 40mpg car doing 10000 miles. About average I suppose.

 

That way if you choose to be frugal, you save, if you want to drive 20k plus miles in a Hummer, you pay for the privilege. For the double win, those useless clowns in Swansea would have to do some real work!

 

GPS will probably come along and fix that issue in the future, that or motorway tolls or the like. I doubt the gov would want to put it directly on fuel as they lose an element of control and independence then.

[mats]

Cost of fuel duty (+VAT) to the UK motorist - £30Bn in 2012.

 

Department for transport's budget: £5.3Bn + 7Bn capital expenditure (2012) figures.

 

The "fleeced motorist" is a myth. Lots of the external costs of motoring are bourne by the people outside the car.

 

On hypotecated taxation - great. How are you going to pay for social services? The welfare system? Defence? Pensions? Have a read of ipayroadtax.com

[sted]

The "fleeced motorist" is a myth. Lots of the external costs of motoring are bourne by the people outside the car.

 

On hypotecated taxation - great. How are you going to pay for social services? The welfare system? Defence? Pensions? Have a read of ipayroadtax.com

surely social services, welfare and defence etc should be paid out of income tax as they are a general item. my argument is if you tax something specific it should benefit something specific so tax on getting from a to b gets spent on transport, tax on cigs and alcohol to nhs etc

[mats]

surely social services, welfare and defence etc should be paid out of income tax as they are a general item. my argument is if you tax something specific it should benefit something specific so tax on getting from a to b gets spent on transport, tax on cigs and alcohol to nhs etc

 

Doesn't work like that.

 

"I've spend £hundreds of tax in my 60 years of cigarette addiction. I have more right to NHS treatment than your sick child who's paid £0. Send her home."

 

"I spent £hundreds on VED for my gas guzzler / HGV / coach. Your hippymobile which has £0 VED should get out of my way. Death to all cyclists."

 

"I don't think Trident is a good use of my taxes. I'm witholding X% to take account of that".

[Flatpackhamster]

The "fleeced motorist" is a myth. Lots of the external costs of motoring are bourne by the people outside the car.

 

A link from the IPPR. A Fabianist, leftist group of professional meddlers. You'll forgive me if I disregard their reports entirely.

 

What about the external costs of sitting around waiting for a bus for 40 minutes? What about the external costs of not being able to get to work because the train drivers are on strike because they want a 98% pay rise this week? Did they include those external costs?

 

On hypotecated taxation - great. How are you going to pay for social services? The welfare system? Defence? Pensions? Have a read of ipayroadtax.com

 

Here's a crazy concept. Let's try not spending so much money.

[rich_tech]

Oil Company chiefs must surely be worried now, just the same way that the basically criminal bankers were when their dodgy monopolistic dealings were highlighted ?