I’ve just spotted this story on The BBC Web Site - Basically millions of people are due to benefit from a tax rebate of around £60 as the government scraps the ten pence tax band.
If you’ve been affected by the ten pence tax, you should see your September pay packet increase by £60 and then £10 for every pay slip you receive from then on. At last some, albeit small, good news for UK tax payers!..
More than 80% of AA members agree that road tax is being used as a stealth tax, according to the AA Populus panel of 15,306 members.
The AA president has today written to the Chancellor requesting that the “retrospective” nature of Vehicle Excise Duty for cars registered between 2001-2006 should be scrapped.
The Chancellor has been told that this is a growing issue of concern for AA members. A “retrospective” tax does not send out a signal but hits many motorists who cannot afford to change their vehicles. Whist 70% of motorists agree that a tax system based on CO2 will influence the type of cars bought there is confusion and lack of information about the system.
Three quarters of motorists agree that by “backdating” the charges the value of some used cars will be damaged and people will keep older cars longer.
The results sent to the Chancellor show:
Commenting on the results, AA president Edmund King, said;
“Over 80% of motorists now see road tax as a “stealth tax” and we have called it a mean tax rather than a green tax. We believe that the retrospective nature of the tax increases for cars registered between 2001-6 should be scrapped before it comes a ‘10p tax on wheels’. The Government should also provide more user-friendly information to inform car buyers of changes to VED over the next two years. Our concern is that people may be buying cars today that they may not know will fall into much higher bands in 2009 and 2010.
“Theaa.com website has had a record number of hits with motorists desperately trying to find out how proposed changes to the VED system will affect them.
“Even though the public and indeed the AA accept that a tax system based on CO2 can influence the choice of vehicle, there is confusion, mistrust and lack of information about the proposals.
“If the retrospective increases in tax go ahead in 2009/2010 then there is the possibility that many motorists might be driving to the polls still fuming from excessive tax increases to the cars they bought before these tax changes were proposed.”
Regional breakdown:
I remember writing this post a few months back and thinking that petrol prices would never really get anywhere near £1.50 a litre, but now I’m not so sure;
http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/petrol-to-hit-150-a-litre-this-year
The AA say that the average bank holiday car journey looks set to cost UK drivers a whopping £110 million more this year compared to last year because of rising petrol prices. (Don’t get me started!).
The average journey is estimated at 304 miles and drivers using diesel cars will see an increase of 29 per cent and unleaded petrol car drivers will see a 17 per cent increase. It’s no suprise the government refuse to budge over fuel duty don’t forget they’re getting around 75% of the £110 million and it’s all MORE, i.e. additional fuel duty revenue than this time last year. I guess we have to pay for those MP’s expenses some how…
Getting back on track! - Despite the rising costs the AA estimate that there will be a 33 per cent increase in road traffic tomorrow and so they have put together some travelling tips for this weekends bank holiday traffic;
Timings
Top ten busiest roads
Top 10 destinations for May Bank Holiday weekend:
1. London
2. Manchester
3. Cardiff
4. Bristol
5. Southampton
6. Nottingham
7. Brighton
8. Blackpool
9. Birmingham
10. Edinburgh
One thing you can do when it comes to the cost of running your car is make sure you compare car insurance and get the most competitive car insurance policy for your needs.
The Department for Communitites and Local Government (DCLG) said that the average household council tax bill in England would rise from £1,101 to £1,146, the government say these are the lowest increases in the last 14 years.
The government told councils that they should keep any increase below 5 per cent last year but the chairman of The DCLG said this would be a tough task; “Councils have been under a real financial squeeze during the annual struggle to keep bills down.”
“The stark reality is that low council tax rises have come at a cost and many councils have had to make tough decisions on spending.”
This is yet more bad news for people struggling to keep up with family finances. The cost of living in the UK is getting ridiculous it seems as though everywhere you turn prices are going up; fuel, energy, food, and now perhaps the worst type of price increase to swallow; a tax increase.
So here’s what the budget really means for you and me, enjoy!
Alcohol and cigarettes - Cigarettes up £0.11 a packet of 20 from 18:00 tonight. 5 cigars up £0.04. Beer up by £0.04 a pint, wine £0.14 a bottle, spirits £0.55 a bottle and cider £0.03 a litre by Sunday. duites on alcohol will go up by 2 per cent above inflation for next four years.
Drivers, cars and fuel - From 2009, major reform of the vehicle excise duty. For new cars from 2010, the lowest-polluting cars will pay no road tax in the first year. Higher-polluting cars will pay more. Funding set aside for road-pricing proposals. The proposed 2p increase in fuel duty is postponed until October this year. Fuel duty will rise by 0.5p per litre in real terms in 2010.
Housing - From April, key workers like teachers and nurses, will be able to borrow money from shared equity schemes. Stamp duty on shared ownership homes will not be required until people own 80 per cent of their home. More people should have the chance to have a long-term fixed mortgage, which a report shows can reduce the risks for first-time buyers and can keep them on the housing ladder. New sites for 70,000 more houses have been identified.
Pensioners - Winter fuel allowance will go up from £200 to £250 for the over 60’s and from £300 to £400 for the over 80’s.
Benefits - From October 2009, rules for housing and council tax benefit will mean families on benefit are better off in work. From April, 2009 a href=”http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/click.php?kw=child%20benefit” mce_href=”http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/click.php?kw=child%20benefit”>child benefitwill be increased to £20 a week. From April 2010 all long-term recipients of incapacity benefit will attend work capacity programmes.
Businesses - £60 million over three years will be made available for equipping people to return to the workplace. Corporation tax will fall from 30 per cent to 28 per cent by April 2008, with simpler taxes for small companies. There will be more help for small businesses, with capital gains tax remaining at 10 per cent. Funds available through the small firms loans guarantee will increase by 60 per cent in the next year. There will be a capital fund of £12.5 million to encourage more women entrepreneurs.
Air travel & airports - There will be new measures at a href=”http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/click.php?kw=heathrow” mce_href=”http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/click.php?kw=heathrow”>Heathrow and other airports, using biometric technology, to help speed up the time it takes to get through security checks.
The Environment - By 2009 Laws will be introduced to tax plastic bags if shops do not do more to charge for their use. £26 million will be amde available to help make homes more eco-friendly. From 2019 all new non-domestic buildings are to become zero-carbon. The government is asking the European Commission for tougher targets on car fuel emmissions By 2050 serious consideration should be given to raise the target for emissions to be cut by 80 per cent.
Education - By 2012 every school will be an ‘improving school’. There will be £200 million extra for schools to raise GCSE results and a £30 million fund to improve science teaching.
Poverty - ‘Child poverty must be eradicated in Britain.’ A total of 600,000 fewer children in relative poverty and 150,000 fewer children in absolute poverty. 5 million customers on pre-paid meters should get a better deal. Energy companies should spend £150 million on social tariffs. There will be £17 more per week for poor families with one child. A family with two children earning up to £28,000 a year will be £130 a year better off. A further £125 million is to be spent over the next three years to help families.
Savings - By 2010 the government will launch the savings gateway nationally with accounts available. The Cash ISA limit is confirmed as £3,600 a year from April 2008.
The economy - ‘There has been great turbulence in global financial markets, starting in the US and this has spread across the world which poses a major risk to the world economy.’
The British economy will continue to grow. Mr Darling said “This Budget is about equipping Britain for the times ahead, about building a fairer society,” He also said “Britain is more resilient and more prepared to deal with global shocks.”
The UK’s GDP per head has gone from the lowest in the G7 in the 1990s to second highest now
The British economy will this year grow from between 1.75 per cent and 2.25 per cent, down from 3 per cent last year.
Mr Darling Said: “There will be no return to the inflation rates of the early 1990s.” The target on inflation is to be kept at 2 per cent.
Borrowing next year will rise to £43 billion - 2.9 per cent of national income. It will fall to 1.3 per cent by 2012/13.
By 2011, investment will have increased by 500 per cent, trebling as a share of national income. Public spending in the coming three years will grow by 2.2 per cent a year.
The armed forces - An extra £2 billion will be spent on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan to help troops in the frontline. Also £900m on military equipment.
Public services - The focus for the next decade on the NHS will be creating ‘world-class services.’
So, nothing too drastic and with this budget the chancellor has managed to avoid a country wide protest by totally avoiding the fuel duty issue until October. Quite what he thinks that will acheive I don’t know, we’ll still all be as furious when he puts up duty by £0.02 then anyway! At least we get the 7 months benefit of our fantastically cheap fuel until October! Not!…
A survey by http://www.swiftcover.com, the UK’s only fully online insurance company, say that British motorist’s feel that they’re being bullied by the government into buying greener cars.
57 per cent of the people surveyed said they were being forced into considering a lower emission car because of the new proposed ’showroom tax’, another new stealth tax that we’ll here the announcement on in today’s budget in the next hour or so. 68 per cent of people said their decision when buying a new car buying a new carwould be influenced by this proposed new tax.
The research also found that the lack of environmentally friendly cars on offer also put people off when it came to buying. Just 17 per cent of people said they’d found a low emissions car that they’d actually like to buy or met their family’s needs. Almost all people in the poll agreed that lower emission cars are the future of motoring and must be considered when buying a new car. 75 per cent agreed that the government is penalising drivers rather than introducing positive incentives to buy green cars. That’s exactly what I said just yesterday in my pre-budget post http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/the-budget-2008 “It’s just a shame the government are intent on pricing everyone else off the road with extortionate fuel prices. I wouldn’t mind so much if public transport was actually any good!”
This is what the drivers if the poll want;
47 per cent said a wider choice of green cars is needed
23 per cent said the government should put pressure on manufacturers to develop greener cars
21 per cent thought tax incentives or government subsidies should be offered
4 per cent opted for an amnesty to remove older cars from the road
Underwriting director of Swiftcover.com, Craig Staniland, said: “While environmentally friendly and alternative fuel cars are the future, British drivers have yet to fully embrace green motoring. As a car insurance company, we incentivise drivers of hybrid cars with a 10% discount; however, more is needed to help drivers make the transition.”
The Budget 2008is set to be delivered tomorrow at 12.30pm by the Chancellor Alistair Darling. I’m sure you’ve already seen the press coverage suggesting that Alistair Darling is merely presenting Gordon Brown’s measures as former Chancellor himself.
Among the changes likely to be announced are increase in ‘green taxes’ things like 4×4 drivers being hit hard again, and help for people struggling to pay their bills. The government is expected to continue to incentivise low emission cars. It’s just a shame they seem to be intent on pricing everyone else off the road with extortionate fuel prices. I wouldn’t mind so much if public transport was actually any good! If I were to try and complete my 20 mile journey to work every day by public transport it would take me around 2 and half hours to do a journey that takes half an hour to 40 minutes in a car. I’m just not going to do it!!
Recent research from insurance company Direct Line shows that 16 per cent of drivers considering buying a car in 2008 will buy a 4×4 or a people carrier. I think cars with bigger engines should be taxed more and this is a fair way of taxing road users but it’s getting to the point where you’ll have to be fairly rich to comfortably afford the cost of buying a car in the first place, let alone the running costs of fuel, road tax, insurance insurance and so on…
Looking at the BBC web site earlier today people are leaving comments on a variety of topics including small business being no friend of this government, hopes for the Chancellor to drop the fuel escalator, pensioners wanting to be exempt from council tax, measures to help single parents pay for childcare childcare and people wanting help to get on the property ladder, plus many more I’m sure.
We’ll see what happens tomorrow at 12.30pm…don’t get too excited, the budget seems to me like the next long list of increasing taxes…Let’s hope I’m proven wrong!
As oil prices have hit the roof in the last 4 months and so have the taxes we pay; to the tune of £1 billion in just the last 4 months! In fact Gordon Brown is set to tax us to the tune of £4.5 billion because of the rising oil costs. This will only put families under increasing financial pressure as they struggle to keep up with rising, fuel, utility bills and food prices.
We pay approximately £0.70 tax in every £1 spent at the pumps and this is a staggering £0.23 more than any other country in europe. Fuel prices have risen by 20 per cent in the last 12 months alone; the fastest increases seen for 10 years. However this isn’t enough for the government to manage to actually help us out by suspending the planned additional £0.02 per litre fuel levy and £0.35 VAT for April 1st - It must be an April fools joke, surely!?
With anger mounting over our inflated fuel prices haulage companies and farmers are threatening to create road blocks at oil refinerines across the country. I’m not sure if that is the best way forward, I remember last time it just created panic at the pumps with people queing for long periods.
I think research from the AA sums it up; from October 1st 2007 to April 1st 2008 drivers will have paid out an extra £282 million in duty and VAT on petrol alone.
Experts are warning that petrol prices will hit £1.50 a litre this year if the rise in crude oil prices continues.
For every £1.00 we pay a staggering £0.70 goes to the government in fuel duty and VAT. With prices at the pumps already increased by 20 per cent in the last 12 months this will only put further strain on family finances.
I think it’s absolutely disgusting that we pay such high tax on fuel compared to the rest of the world. It will make running a fairly ‘standard’ small car as costly as some of the bigger more expensive saloon cars.
For example to fill the tank of a Peugeot 206 1.9 litre, diesel engine it costs around £53. Last year this would have cost just £43. If we do hit £1.50 a litre this will rise to £75! For many people this will be the weekly cost of running a car just so they can get to work, £300 a month! That’s what I paid for my first mortgage about 5 years ago. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Managing director of the website Petrolprices.com, Brendan McLoughlin said “If these conditions in the crude oil market continue, we will hit £1.50 a litre this year.
Chancellor Alistair Darling is planning two further fuel duty increases by October and with such worldwide economic instability, oil prices are likely to rise in the future.
The last time oil hit $100 a barrel it was artificially inflated by a rogue trader wanting to claim his place in history as the first to buy oil at such a landmark price.
This time the price has jumped as a result of speculation over conflict in Nigeria, a refinery explosion in Texas, market traders using commodities as a way to protect themselves against a weak dollar and fears that OPEC (the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) will cut production because oil reserves are drying up.”
We’ve just had the good news about interest rate cuts and now this! It’s no wonder more and more people are struggling to cope with rising costs of living. Petrol is at its highest cost ever and now higher council tax too…
Local councils have warned that parts of the UK could face council tax increases because of a reduction in available government cash.
The warning from the LGA (Local Government Association) came before today’s announcements from the government about the latest three-year funding plans for local councils.
However before today’s announcements, which outlined how much cash each local authority will receive, the LGA (Local Government Association) suggested central government funding was not adequate and that local councils would be forced into making “tough choices” because there was not enough cash to provide all the required services.
Things that are likely to put pressure on local councils in the future are the rising cost of putting rubbish in landfill sites, the ever increasing number of elderly people requiring care, the introduction of free England-wide bus travel for the over and the growing immigration levels.
LGA chairman Sir Simon Milton said; “In some regions local councils will have to make tough choices between spending cuts and council tax rises above inflation,”
”Many council leaders will be scratching their heads as they try to work out how they will deliver ever better services for local people with less money than in recent years and with greater demands on services,” he added in a statement ahead of this afternoon’s announcement.”
Links to Gocompare.com say consumers are unlikely to be quoted happy by Norwich Union:
Y-12