"The Treasury is facing a £637 million deficit after fuel sales dropped by one billion litres this year, the AA revealed.
Service stations in the UK sold 835 million fewer litres of petrol and 247 million fewer litres of diesel in January to March 2011 compared to the same period three years earlier.
The 15 per cent dip in petrol sales and the 6 per cent fall in diesel sales were caused by higher fuel costs and consumers tightening their belts.
Filling up: The Treasury has been left with a £637 million gap after petrol and diesel sales dropped drastically
Petrol increased by 7.94p a litre and diesel went up by 10.51p a litre in the first three months of the year"
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2012480/Fuel-sales-fall-BILLION-litres-637m-hole-Treasurys-tank.html#ixzz1RWXw861k
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Less car use, that is exactly what the government wants :). Perhaps they might want to introduce a £10 tax for cyclists too.
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On the other hand a friend who works at the local boatyard tells me they're selling an awful lot of diesel.....
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I wonder if there's a sweet spot where the treasury could decrease fuel duty, whilst at the same time increasing total tax take by pushing up demand for fuel, instead of killing it off?
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Maybe a contribution comes from there being more cars on the road that offer greater mpg than three years ago, especially as lots of older models have been scrapped. My own case in point - went from a 25mpg car to a 60mpg car but still do the same miles, so my fuel purchases are down 50% or more.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Fri 8 Jul 11 at 16:14
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>> Maybe a contribution comes from there being more cars on the road that offer greater
>> mpg than three years ago, especially as lots of older models have been scrapped. My
>> own case in point - went from a 25mpg car to a 60mpg car but
>> still do the same miles, so my fuel purchases are down 50% or more.
I reckon that has to be a factor. I'm commuting in a car that goes nearly twice as far on a gallon as the one I was using a couple of years ago, and I don't know anyone who has replaced their car with a less economical one recently.
I've also noticed a significant change in driving habits, particularly on the motorway. 80-85 used to be the norm, with 'legal limit' cruising seeing you overtaken by a stream of cars. I drove from J2 to J1 of the M3 this morning at an indicated 75 mph and was overtaken just twice! That's pretty typical of late. Not so long ago, even at 85 mph you would have people rattling past at a ton plus.
I think people are both driving more economical cars, and driving them more economically. I also think much more about fuel use when planning journeys, or deciding whether to make them or not, than I ever have.
Last edited by: DP on Fri 8 Jul 11 at 16:32
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>> of years ago, and I don't know anyone who has replaced their car with a
>> less economical one recently.
Hand Up. Me Sir! I went from 50mpg to 40mpg. Diesel to petrol.
>>
>> I've also noticed a significant change in driving habits, particularly on the motorway. 80-85 used
>> to be the norm, with 'legal limit' cruising seeing you overtaken by a stream of
>> cars. I drove from J2 to J1 of the M3 this morning at an indicated
>> 75 mph and was overtaken just twice! That's pretty typical of late. Not so long
>> ago, even at 85 mph you would have people rattling past at a ton plus.
Yup, I now cruise at a GPS indiated 63MPH. I am in the company of others and those who overtake dont do it by a much greater speed.
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I did always wonder if the government have thought about what they are going to do when cars use less fuel. I wonder if we will start seeing a rise in car tax :(
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Not surprised - lately observed fewer cars on road.
But again, less revenue should be compensated by less money required to import fuel.
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>> I did always wonder if the government have thought about what they are going to
>> do when cars use less fuel. I wonder if we will start seeing a rise
>> in car tax :(
Well, that happened with Diesel. Diesel is viewed as tax dodging, hence why the price is higher than for petrol.
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"Well, that happened with Diesel. Diesel is viewed as tax dodging, hence why the price is higher than for petrol."
The higher price of diesel has nothing to do with tax which is identical to that on unleaded petrol. Duty currently stands at £0.5895 per litre
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Fri 8 Jul 11 at 18:25
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>> Yup, I now cruise at a GPS indiated 63MPH.>>
If you mean GPS indicated 63, you are still a mimser. If you can't afford to drive it properly get a bus. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 8 Jul 11 at 16:55
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I did say a long while ago, that the tax lost from the smoking ban and the resulting loss of tobacco sales, would have to be replaced from somewhere.
It certainly has been, and from non smokers too:)
That'll teach ya to whinge at us smokers!
Pat
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It certainly has been, and from non smokers too:)
Don't care. Worth every penny to be able to sit inside the pub and wear the same jacket the next day.
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>> Hand Up. Me Sir! I went from 50mpg to 40mpg. Diesel to petrol.
Even so I'll bet your total fuel use/cost as a pensioner is a fraction of what it was when hurtling about for work.
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I would imagine the Treasury factored in some form of drop in sales.. Whether enough, I have no idea.
But of course, it's not as simple as that. Fuel prices have risen 20% or so and guess what? The tax take per litre has risen as well cos it's on a price % basis.
Oops the Daily Mail forgot to mention that..
So petrol sales are down 15% and prices are up 20% so Government Reveune is up 5%...
Never ever trust a newspaper: they print only for the simple minded.. :-)
I failed persoannly. Average mpg from 57 to 61...
(far fewer cars on the road tho..)
Last edited by: madf on Fri 8 Jul 11 at 17:17
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Careful with the maths there, Madf.
100 units at 100p = 10,000p
85 units at 120p = 10,200p ie up 2%
BUT road fuel duty is not a percentage, it's a flat amount, so it's only the VAT element of the tax take that increases. So HMRC loses about 55p +VAT for each unsold litre but gains only 20% back on any increase. And I'm too simple minded tonight to work out exactly what that comes to.
}:---)
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But it's less than HRMC was getting from the tax on tobacco:)
Pat
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Alas the tobacco tax payers were a dying breed.,
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As are the non smoking whingers now!
Pat
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>> As are the non smoking whingers now!
Quite Pat. Lounging in the pub day after day wearing the same jacket, reeking of old perspiration and stale beer... Ghastly chaps.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Fri 8 Jul 11 at 17:48
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...Never ever trust a newspaper...
I think you'll find the figures are a direct quote from the AA.
Never trust the AA, but trust the newspaper to report their comments accurately.
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Im quite sure changing cars has alot to do with it.
Of my customers, here are a few changes over the last year:
Jaguar X-Type V6 to a diesel.
Range Rover TDV8 to a Freelander diesel.
Rover 75 1.8 petrol to Insignia diesel.
Signum diesel to an eco Astra diesel.
Porsche 911 Carrera to a BMW 520d.
Its all going one way.
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Sounds as if it's a good moment to look for a competitively-priced road bullet then, to blast past the mimsing Zero in at 120 down Hampstead High Street...
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>> Sounds as if it's a good moment to look for a competitively-priced road bullet then,
>> to blast past the mimsing Zero in at 120 down Hampstead High Street...
Not by the man who gets undertaken at roundabouts
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Don't start about newspapers again this story will run and run.
Increase in Gas Electricity prices are forthcoming something to look forward to.I'm inpressed with the Focus economy.
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>>
>> Yup, I now cruise at a GPS indicated 63MPH. I am in the company of
>> others and those who overtake don't do it by a much greater speed.
Generally my cruise control is set at 65/67mph on motorways and 45/50mpg on other national speed limit, restricted to 60 mph, roads.
I now achieve a very reasonable 45+ mpg overall and close to 50mpg on a trip, in our Alhambra 1.9tdi - not a small car!
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My speeds are pretty similar - but I make sure I don't get in anyone's way, so I will speed up on single carriageways as needed, or pull over. Unless they hassle me hard, in which case it'll be 60 and no faster, matey boy, but feel free to overtake when you want.
On motorways a tad faster than the lorries means you are pretty well out of everyone's way.
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Hmm. Wonder how much it was to do with the flipping cold winter and snow being everywhere so you couldn't go anywhere even if you wanted to?
It's also vague. When they say compared to '3 years earlier' do they mean the same jan to march period 3 years ago or do they mean jan to march over each of the 3 previous years? It's not clear.
Last edited by: teabelly on Fri 8 Jul 11 at 17:54
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It problaby works our even stevens use less fuel but at a higher price.
The Government is always the winner.
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Maybe helps in some ways, gets us thinking now about solutions to get around after oil's not possible.
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Could the figures in the OP's original link have been skewed by the fact they include the coldest January in a long, long time, during which lots of people couldn't drive even if they wanted to?
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>> Could the figures in the OP's original link have been skewed by the fact they
>> include the coldest January in a long, long time, during which lots of people couldn't
>> drive even if they wanted to?
>>
That's what I thought and suggested earlier :)
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>> Could the figures in the OP's original link have been skewed by the fact they
>> include the coldest January in a long, long time, during which lots of people couldn't
>> drive even if they wanted to?
>>
We had a very cold January in 2010 and 2011... ...I know as you grow older you forget things...but :-)
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.>> I know as you grow older you forget things...but :-)
If only I could... but you do feel the cold more with age.
≈:o}
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I can still see you battling many winters to come Armel Coussine.:)
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