Fuel price increases!!

[Pond]

You don't want to brag about that. Somebody could take offence and dob you in.

Absolutely 100% allowable. I'm one of those rich self-employed people who pay no tax (according to many apparently).

 

[Nodzed]

If you drive for work moan. If you drive for pleasure, fill up, stop moaning and enjoy or SORN it.

 

[mmm-five]

If you read up on this stuff, you will realise that oil is a globally traded commodity. The price of oil is set on the international market. It doesn't matter where it comes from, it costs the same.

We may get oil from places that aren't north of the Straits of Hormuz, but the price is set based on the future price of ALL oil.

Future predicted price determines the price of currently traded oil.

Most commodities are ‘globally traded’, but it doesn’t mean the price from one source is the same as another as Brent Crude is traded separately to WTI Crude. Although the price tends to track quite closely, otherwise the buyers would keep switching to the cheapest one. Of course, once logistics & processing costs are factored in, it may not be worth swapping sources to save $3/bbl if you’ve got to change your production process at a cost of $10m to accommodate the different quality/grade.

Not forgetting all the globally-traded commodities that start out crude oil…so things like plastics & polymers, some gases, light oils, heavy oils, petrol, diesel, naphtha, some fertilisers, etc. are all distilled from the base crude…and each of those commodities are traded regionally based on where they’re processed.

So we have to track US, European, South Asian, Pakistan and Chinese commodity indexes to ensure our suppliers aren’t taking the p***. But any reasonably-sized company will have agreements/contracts in place to shelter themselves from the worst of the short-term increases. These will be hedging & forward-buying agreements (where we pay a premium on today’s price, but it’s then fixed for a period) or fixed-term contracts in place for n years which guarantee the price within a +/-10% tolerance (for example).

 

[Pond]

I know that airlines hedge their fuel costs six months in advance. I do work for a major airline and they told me this.

 

[Pond]

Then there's the mega stealthy one what most of use forget about is the "Employer's National Insurance contribution". But the employer pays that, I hear every one say, but where do you think he gets it from. It's taken off your salary BEFORE it appears on your pay slip.

That's not true. Employer's NI Contributions comes out of their gross profits. Nothing to do with employees' salaries.
The employer gets that tax from his gross income, comes off the top line, and is paid to Reeves.

 

[Pond]

Most commodities are ‘globally traded’, but it doesn’t mean the price from one source is the same as another as Brent Crude is traded separately to WTI Crude. Although the price tends to track quite closely, otherwise the buyers would keep switching to the cheapest one. Of course, once logistics & processing costs are factored in, it may not be worth swapping sources to save $3/bbl if you’ve got to change your production process at a cost of $10m to accommodate the different quality/grade.

Not forgetting all the globally-traded commodities that start out crude oil…so things like plastics & polymers, some gases, light oils, heavy oils, petrol, diesel, naphtha, some fertilisers, etc. are all distilled from the base crude…and each of those commodities are traded regionally based on where they’re processed.

So we have to track US, European, South Asian, Pakistan and Chinese commodity indexes to ensure our suppliers aren’t taking the p***. But any reasonably-sized company will have agreements/contracts in place to shelter themselves from the worst of the short-term increases. These will be hedging & forward-buying agreements (where we pay a premium on today’s price, but it’s then fixed for a period) or fixed-term contracts in place for n years which guarantee the price within a +/-10% tolerance (for example).

If we want to blame anyone, we should be pointing fingers at the 'traders' and 'investors' who deal with trading oil. They are unable these days to take the rough with the smooth. Any small blip makes them instantly nervous about compromising their huge incomes.

 

[Pingu]

I just got a letter from HMRC ...

State Pension £12536
Allowance £12570

So once you earn over £34 you could be liable for Tax ~ mine comes out of my company pension
ISA is tax free, but any savings interest over £1000 is also due tax

I'm not an accountant, but I think that is how it works

Bold bit is not true.

There is a £5,000 savings allowance that drops to £1,000 for 20% tax payers.

If you earn less than £17,570, you get £5000 tax free allowance.

You lose £1 of the allowance for every £ over the £17,570 until you earn £22,570, when the rate locks at £1,000 until your tax rate changes to 40% at £50.271, the allowance then drops to £500. Above £125,140, the allowance is zero.

Tax on savings interest

You do not pay tax on your savings interest if you're on a low income.

www.gov.uk

 

[Pingu]

Absolutely 100% allowable. I'm one of those rich self-employed people who pay no tax (according to many apparently).

100% allowable if the office is a dedicated space and is not used for personal use. A garden office probably would be acceptable, but a back bedroom doubling up as an office probably wouldn't.

I wouldn't try it unless it was a separate building or an annex.

It's your responsibilty to prove it, not HMRC's, so make sure your ducks are in a row for this one.

 

[Duncodin]

That's not true. Employer's NI Contributions comes out of their gross profits. Nothing to do with employees' salaries.
The employer gets that tax from his gross income, comes off the top line, and is paid to Reeves.

Yeah. The top line. But where does the top line come from. If a company doesn't do the math at the very top line then there will be no bottom line.

Of course the Boss isn't physically taking extra cash from the worker's wages.

You gotta look at it from this direction. The end result is the same.

The government want the workers to think it's a tax on businesses and wealthy employers. Workers like the sound of that. Yeah. Let's tax the bosses not the workers. Where do I put my 'X'.

But everything, and I mean EVERYTHING results in increased prices for customers, reduced salaries for workers or both.

Look at this example for a hard working Zed owner called Fred.

Fred's Boss thinks that old Zed in the car park could do with a spruce up for spring so the boss, being a real nice guy, would like to give Fred a pay rise. So gets the accountant to look at the books and he calculates they can afford to give Fred another £200 a month. That'll buy some gummipflege, put a bit of gas in Fred's tank and some Nachos.

But wait, if they actually give Fred that £200 then the company's national insurance bill is gonna go up by another £30. So if Fred gets the extra £200 the total cost to the company would be £230 a month. The accountant already looked at the books and worked out that they can't afford that much without cutting back somewhere else. They have to recalculate. They like Fred so still want to give him a raise. They decide on £180. That's £20 less than they originally planned - Fred needs to cut down on the Nachos anyway. They're doing him a favour. Any fatter and he won't fit in the zed.

Reeves wants her 15% so Fred's pay rise is costing the company 'more' than the £200 a month even though Fred is only getting £180.

To cover the extra tax the boss can take it from his own wages - or he can increase the price to the customers to cover it.

So, although a tax on companies sounds good it all trickles down and affects worker's wages and prices and even whether somebody actually gets or keeps a job at all.

 

[andyglym]

85mpg Honda CB500X enters the chat

 

[andyglym]