Burnham to remove VAT from household electricity bills that seems great!

[JohnW2]

So why not a cut in VAT on gas and heating oil as well?

Good question, since I'm sure they would have loved to. One has to presume that they think that they can 'fund' it, at least for 6 months, for just electricity but the same would not (yet) be true for all three types of fuel.

This is just a headline grabbing move ....

That's one way of looking at it, but it's not necessarily fair to be so pejorative by implication - since any change that befits people, even if only slightly, will inevitably 'grab headlines'.

... and they will get it back another way!

They are going to have to get a lot 'back' in one way or another fairly soon if they are to achieve even a fraction of what they would like to achieve (and 'the people' would like them to achieve).

I have never understood why the Labour party were so seemingly daft when coming up with their manifesto for the last general election. By then, we had all known for a long time that that they were inevitably going to win the election, even if they sad/did virtually nothing to attract voters - yet they came up with these crazy (in my opinion!) promises not to raise most taxes, when raising taxes (or even more borrowing, of which they were already being critical) was going to be the only way of 'improving things' in the short- and medium-term (the only real alternative being 'growth', on which they majored - but that would take very many years to have much effect).

 

[foxhole]

He talked about imagery numbers.

Makes even less sense.

 

[JohnW2]

Makes even less sense.

I presume that is eric's voice recognition thingy at work (he has an injured hand) - it should be "imaginary" (numbers) conventionally indicated by "i" or "j".

 

[foxhole]

I presume that is eric's voice recognition thingy at work (he has an injured hand) - it should be "imaginary" (numbers) conventionally indicated by "i" or "j".

Still no idea what he is referring to .

 

[JohnW2]

Still no idea what he is referring to .

If you don't know/understand about imaginary and complex number it wouldn't.

What it has got to do with this thread is a different matter - I wouldn't even attempt to answer that one

 

[aveatry]

There should be no vat on anything like gas. Electric, water heating oil. Those things that you have no choice in not buying.

 

[JohnW2]

There should be no vat on anything like gas. Electric, water heating oil. Those things that you have no choice in not buying.

I can see an argument for that - just as there is no VAT on non-luxury food and children' clothes - although one mustn't forget that the VATon fuels is already an awful lot less than VAT in general.

It's obviously down to money, since I imagine that, even at 5%, VAT on fuels probably generates a lot of revenue. If all VAT was removed from the fuels, which taxes would you like to be increased to recoup that lost revenue (and, as a secondary question, which taxes would you like to be increased if you had to stick to the government's crazy manifesto 'promises'?)

 

[aveatry]

I can see an argument for that - just as there is no VAT on non-luxury food and children' clothes - although one mustn't forget that the VATon fuels is already an awful lot less than VAT in general.

It's obviously down to money, since I imagine that, even at 5%, VAT on fuels probably generates a lot of revenue. If all VAT was removed from the fuels, which taxes would you like to be increased to recoup that lost revenue (and, as a secondary question, which taxes would you like to be increased if you had to stick to the government's crazy manifesto 'promises'?)

I don't want any taxes increase to pay for it, we should have cuts in other areas instead.

 

[JohnW2]

I don't want any taxes increase to pay for it, we should have cuts in other areas instead.

Which services would you like to be cut?

 

[ericmark]

Four fuels used to run the home, electric, gas, oil, and solid. We can produce solid fuels and electric in the home, but not gas and oil, the number of people with a garden large enough to produce enough solid fuel for their home must be very low, my friend with 20 acres said he still has to buy some in, but the number with wind and solar generators is growing all the time.

So of the four fuels, electric is the odd one out, and there is a problem where the tariff differential has been eroded, to my mind, it would be better to charge VAT on the net consumption not energy temporary stored, but not consumed, but there is a problem, one does not need to sell electric to the same company as the one you buy it from, and households are not VAT registered, so one can't claim it back.

So to zero rate electric gets around the problem, but only if they guarantee it will stay that way, as people are unlikely to fork out on batteries, if zero VAT is short-lived.

 

[JohnW2]

So to zero rate electric gets around the problem, but only if they guarantee it will stay that way, as people are unlikely to fork out on batteries, if zero VAT is short-lived.

You keep going on about batteries, but in the real world the vast majority of people who pay for electricity (and have been paying the relatively small amount of VAT on it) don't have any batteries!

 

[ericmark]

You keep going on about batteries, but in the real world the vast majority of people who pay for electricity (and have been paying the relatively small amount of VAT on it) don't have any batteries!

But the question was, why electric and not the other fuels, I have explained why electric is the odd one out.

 

[denso13]

But the question was, why electric and not the other fuels, I have explained why electric is the odd one out.

Because almost everyone uses electricity, but not the other fuels, therefore the cut in vat helps more people. They claim.

 

[JohnW2]

Because almost everyone uses electricity, but not the other fuels, therefore the cut in vat helps more people. They claim.

Yes, a cut in VAT on just electricity will help more people than a cut in VAT on just one of the other fuels. However, with reference the the comment/question which started this "why just electricity" discussion, if they felt (which presumably they don't) that they could afford to cut VAT on all the fuels, then that would help everyone.

 

[denso13]

if they felt (which presumably they don't) that they could afford to cut VAT on all the fuels, then that would help everyone.

Undoubtably a cost issue. He probably wanted to hit the ground running and chose a limited, relatively low cost initiative to show he is different.

Nothing to do with encouraging solar or battery use.