Energy Suppliers

TNA said:
Well, might as well privatise the NHS also then?

Certain critical things should simply be under our own control. Should not need to rely on Russia or anyone else.
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I wholeheartedly agree with you, I was being sarcastic.

I honestly think water/gas/electric etc should be nationalised, at least then you could vote out the management if you didn't like it.
 
ci_newman said:
Except they are. Centrica posted profits of over £260million in 2021, and British Gas posted profits of £172million for the first half of 2021

https://www.centrica.com/investors/results-centre/2021-interim-results/
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...-double-home-workers-cold-regulator-price-cap
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Are they?

https://www.cityam.com/british-gas-...-third-as-warm-weather-and-lower-prices-bite/
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/feb/13/british-gas-owner-centrica-suffers-849m-loss

And the gas price increase of 2021 came in the second half of the year, this is hurting the entire industry.
 
ci_newman said:
Your articles are over a year old. That Guardian article was from Feb 2020, almost two years ago. The links I gave are from Centrica's own publications for 2021
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It doesn't matter their age they highlight how easy it is for them to swing from profit to massive losses. Your articles do not take into account this recent gas price hike so are pretty irrelevant as well.

Take the Ofgem data if you don't believe me.

You see how the pre tax margin for the suppliers is negative?
 
Removing VAT doesn’t help private companies be more financially sustainable because they don’t actually pay it, the consumer does.

Removing VAT doesn’t help the tax payer because there isn’t any spare money in the U.K. Treasury, we are currently in debt by nearly 100% of our GDP.

Removing VAT on energy means either raising tax somewhere else, spending less somewhere else or kicking the bill down the road for future generations to pay. It still doesn’t change that someone has to pay one way or another.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Removing VAT doesn’t help private companies be more financially sustainable because they don’t actually pay it, the consumer does.

Removing VAT doesn’t help the tax payer because there isn’t any spare money in the U.K. Treasury, we are currently in debt by nearly 100% of our GDP.

Removing VAT on energy means either raising tax somewhere else, spending less somewhere else or kicking the bill down the road for future generations to pay. It still doesn’t change that someone has to pay one way or another.
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The way people will be struggling I find it perverse to still charge a tax on such a utility. They wont even consider removing it temporarily or putting the extra tax revenue they are making from higher bills back to the people that really need it. This idea that we have so much debt that we cant afford it is wrong as well, we spaffed 40 odd billion up the wall on track n trace and who knows how many extra billions on dodgy ppe contracts. The money is there they just don't want to give it to the poorest.
 
Like it or not, people struggling isn’t anything new, it’s been that way for a long time, like a really long time.

Borrowing more money to pay for day to day expenses isn’t a sustainable long term solution to a problem which isn’t going away.

These prices will be the new normal, even if wholesale prices fall back, a new levy will shortly be added to bills to pay for Sizewell C.

Removing VAT from energy bills will just mean the vast majority who can afford to pay, and have the biggest bills getting a discount for no good reason.

If you want to discuss other welfare payments options or expanding the warm home discount for those in need by all means but this isn’t really the thread for it.

There is so such thing as a free lunch and trying to apply a short term relief to a problem which is not going away anytime soon isn’t the solution.

The only sensible way out of this mess is long term investment in sustainable sources of energy like nuclear and for the next 10+ years we are just going to have to suck it up while Putin turns off the tap I’m afraid.
 
Removing the 5% VAT rate on energy bills will not make that much of a difference.

Annual spend of £1000 includes VAT of £47.62
Annual spend of £1500 includes VAT of £71.43
 
200sols said:
The way people will be struggling I find it perverse to still charge a tax on such a utility. They wont even consider removing it temporarily or putting the extra tax revenue they are making from higher bills back to the people that really need it.
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Why remove it? I can afford to pay it as millions of others can. I keep saying charge full price and help those that genuinely need help.

I know a person who lives in a £5million house and pays around £50k a year in school fees YET his kids are still entitled to free bus travel in London. That's the same London that has the highest public transport fares in the world! Poor people are subsidising his kids free travel..... CRAZY!
Help those that genuinely need help and make those that can pay pay!
 
~Mike~ said:
Removing the 5% VAT rate on energy bills will not make that much of a difference.

Annual spend of £1000 includes VAT of £47.62
Annual spend of £1500 includes VAT of £71.43
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Yeah, I don’t think the VAT part is the issue. It is Russia hiking the prices as I understand it. Why not just build more solar, wind, tidal and nuclear right here? If a world war or something like that took place why be stuck relying on other countries for such a thing? Makes no sense.

Maybe they are hoping nuclear fusion becomes a thing soon? :p
 
TNA said:
Yeah, I don’t think the VAT part is the issue. It is Russia hiking the prices as I understand it. Why not just build more solar, wind, tidal and nuclear right here? If a world war or something like that took place why be stuck relying on other countries for such a thing? Makes no sense.

Maybe they are hoping nuclear fusion becomes a thing soon? :p
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NIMBY is the reason we can't / won't build those things here.
 
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