Cost of Living

[revolution saint]

1 minute ago, egg said:

The drop in house prices would need to be huge to bring prices to a level where there can be mass house purchases. The negative equity caused by it will likely be ultra recessionary, and we'll probably have another banking crisis. No government would even contemplate that, let alone action it. 

I want a solution, but I don't see one as realistically achievable. 

We're poles apart on this, so I'll say no more. 

Obviously I don't agree with you because it could be done incrementally but anyway, it's better to leave it here.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Rent controls help existing tenants but long term it leads to short supply & a lack of investment in rented properties .

It also encourages “black market” agreements, depriving the Government of tax, and the tennant of some basic rights. There’s also plenty of loop holes where dodgy employers rent cheap rent controlled properties to their employees & over charge them to live there. 

[Turkish]

Banks making record profits as well as energy companies 

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/bank-profits-natwest-lloyds-hsbc-santander-barclays-b1059325.html

 

[buctootim]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Banks making record profits as well as energy companies 

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/bank-profits-natwest-lloyds-hsbc-santander-barclays-b1059325.html

 

Ive got some bank shares so pay a bit of attention to the issue. Thing is banks are in a very different postion to energy companies. Banks are paying out record dividends, but the share price is bombed out, reflecting that a lot of people think they are liable to go bust again in short order. Barclays is on target to make £9bn this year, but the whole company is only worth £23bn - compared with average ratio historically that a company is worth 10-12 times its profits.  If you start putting windfall taxes on them the share price will tank even further, making them even more liable to collapse - which will lead to the government having to bail them out for hundreds of billions again. 

 

Edited 8 October, 2023 by buctootim

[Weston Super Saint]

Record profits for Shell, British Gas, Scottish Power, BP etc etc, but we need to raise household bills to stop them going bust!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67087043

Quote

Households could be asked to pay an extra £17 a year on their energy bills to help prevent suppliers going bust, according to the industry watchdog.

Ofgem seems to have forgotten that it exists to protect customers rather than 'big business'.

[Lord Duckhunter]

On 08/10/2023 at 18:24, Turkish said:

Banks making record profits as well as energy companies 

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/bank-profits-natwest-lloyds-hsbc-santander-barclays-b1059325.html

 

 

On 08/10/2023 at 19:31, buctootim said:

Ive got some bank shares so I don’t want them subjected to a windfall tax. 

 

I’ve amended it for you…

[Turkish]

i just caught the end of the news and thought i was hearing things. They are putting the price of electric up because of $3b in unpaid bills. These same companies that have been posting billions upon billions of profit every single quarter for the last two years. Can someone tell me i've got this wrong.

[Weston Super Saint]

6 minutes ago, Turkish said:

i just caught the end of the news and thought i was hearing things. They are putting the price of electric up because of $3b in unpaid bills. These same companies that have been posting billions upon billions of profit every single quarter for the last two years. Can someone tell me i've got this wrong.

It seems the most logical thing to do.

If people can't afford their bills, the best thing to do is make them even bigger, surely?

Still, as long as the shareholders are happy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67725424.amp

Edited 15 December, 2023 by Weston Super Saint

[badgerx16]

8 minutes ago, Turkish said:

i just caught the end of the news and thought i was hearing things. They are putting the price of electric up because of $3b in unpaid bills. These same companies that have been posting billions upon billions of profit every single quarter for the last two years. Can someone tell me i've got this wrong.

Expect the cost to go up again because, as a consequence of this announcement, more people will be unable to pay due to the increase.

I'm sure there is logic in there somewhere.

[Farmer Saint]

Obviously it feels like we're never going to really see our power bills reduce, so I'm interested in what people have been doing to save energy?

Last Summer we put in 8kw of solar panels and a 10kw battery, and I've been tracking the power savings - over the last 12 months we have saved £2900 in electricity. We decided to put these in prior to the COLC, but it has certainly been a welcome saving (our overall domestic bills should have been around £7500 for this past year).

I have also been thinking of getting a wind turbine - although the up-front cost of those is very high (and they don't half make some noise).

[Weston Super Saint]

10 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Obviously it feels like we're never going to really see our power bills reduce, so I'm interested in what people have been doing to save energy?

Last Summer we put in 8kw of solar panels and a 10kw battery, and I've been tracking the power savings - over the last 12 months we have saved £2900 in electricity. We decided to put these in prior to the COLC, but it has certainly been a welcome saving (our overall domestic bills should have been around £7500 for this past year).

I have also been thinking of getting a wind turbine - although the up-front cost of those is very high (and they don't half make some noise).

What size house do you live in if your bills should have been £7500?

[Whitey Grandad]

At my age solar power is never going to recover its cost. Since my wife died I have decided that comfort is more important to me than money and I have my central heating on all the time.

[AlexLaw76]

53 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Obviously it feels like we're never going to really see our power bills reduce, so I'm interested in what people have been doing to save energy?

Last Summer we put in 8kw of solar panels and a 10kw battery, and I've been tracking the power savings - over the last 12 months we have saved £2900 in electricity. We decided to put these in prior to the COLC, but it has certainly been a welcome saving (our overall domestic bills should have been around £7500 for this past year).

I have also been thinking of getting a wind turbine - although the up-front cost of those is very high (and they don't half make some noise).

If we don’t pay more, then living off green energy will not be a thing by 2030 (or what ever ridiculous year it is set at)

Edited 16 December, 2023 by AlexLaw76

[Turkish]

50 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Obviously it feels like we're never going to really see our power bills reduce, so I'm interested in what people have been doing to save energy?

Last Summer we put in 8kw of solar panels and a 10kw battery, and I've been tracking the power savings - over the last 12 months we have saved £2900 in electricity. We decided to put these in prior to the COLC, but it has certainly been a welcome saving (our overall domestic bills should have been around £7500 for this past year).

I have also been thinking of getting a wind turbine - although the up-front cost of those is very high (and they don't half make some noise).

We brought a pizza oven so we can cook and dine outside in our new refurbished garden so sometimes we save on electricity with oven and instead spend £20 on wood every time we use it  

[Fan The Flames]

2 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

Obviously it feels like we're never going to really see our power bills reduce, so I'm interested in what people have been doing to save energy?

Last Summer we put in 8kw of solar panels and a 10kw battery, and I've been tracking the power savings - over the last 12 months we have saved £2900 in electricity. We decided to put these in prior to the COLC, but it has certainly been a welcome saving (our overall domestic bills should have been around £7500 for this past year).

I have also been thinking of getting a wind turbine - although the up-front cost of those is very high (and they don't half make some noise).

How much was the solar power and battery set up?

[badgerx16]

3 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

Obviously it feels like we're never going to really see our power bills reduce, so I'm interested in what people have been doing to save energy?

Last Summer we put in 8kw of solar panels and a 10kw battery, and I've been tracking the power savings - over the last 12 months we have saved £2900 in electricity. We decided to put these in prior to the COLC, but it has certainly been a welcome saving (our overall domestic bills should have been around £7500 for this past year).

I have also been thinking of getting a wind turbine - although the up-front cost of those is very high (and they don't half make some noise).

Your savings are one and a half times our total bill.

[Farmer Saint]

1 hour ago, Fan The Flames said:

How much was the solar power and battery set up?

£17k - battery should have a 10 year life and panels 25 years. 

[Farmer Saint]

3 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

What size house do you live in if your bills should have been £7500?

Large old inefficient farmhouse funnily enough - about £4k on gas 😒 - but can't do anything about that.

Edited 16 December, 2023 by Farmer Saint

[OldNick]

21 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

£17k - battery should have a 10 year life and panels 25 years. 

We use about4k-5k heating oil a year, grade II listed house so we cant have double glazing or solar (i hate the look of them)I do have a well in my basement and so the water is about 25ft below ground level, I wonder if I can harness the heat from the water to help??

Question re the solar panels, if they are on your roof what happens when a tile slips and you need to get to it? I believe sometimes only the installer is allowed to move the panels to get to it and so that could be expensive

[OldNick]

On 08/10/2023 at 19:31, buctootim said:

Ive got some bank shares so pay a bit of attention to the issue. Thing is banks are in a very different postion to energy companies. Banks are paying out record dividends, but the share price is bombed out, reflecting that a lot of people think they are liable to go bust again in short order. Barclays is on target to make £9bn this year, but the whole company is only worth £23bn - compared with average ratio historically that a company is worth 10-12 times its profits.  If you start putting windfall taxes on them the share price will tank even further, making them even more liable to collapse - which will lead to the government having to bail them out for hundreds of billions again. 

 

I dont have bank shares but dont feel there should be windfall tax on them. Anybody with a private pension I suspect gains from the banks doing well as the pension company will be invested. Its not just a case of if a company earns good money they should be penalised. 

As for the fuel companies, people bang on about renewables etc and want them to provide it, keep taking money from them and they will be less keen/able to invest.

 

[Whitey Grandad]

42 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

£17k - battery should have a 10 year life and panels 25 years. 

I suspect those figures are optimistic. We’re they premium panels?

[Farmer Saint]

27 minutes ago, OldNick said:

We use about4k-5k heating oil a year, grade II listed house so we cant have double glazing or solar (i hate the look of them)I do have a well in my basement and so the water is about 25ft below ground level, I wonder if I can harness the heat from the water to help??

Question re the solar panels, if they are on your roof what happens when a tile slips and you need to get to it? I believe sometimes only the installer is allowed to move the panels to get to it and so that could be expensive

So glad we're not on oil!! 

Luckily ours are on our tractor stores roof, so we don't have to deal with that (ignore the mess in the garden - half way through finishing it):

Edited 16 December, 2023 by Farmer Saint

[Farmer Saint]

13 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

I suspect those figures are optimistic. We’re they premium panels?

Well, they have a 25 year guarantee, so let's see. 

TBH at the moment we're looking at a 6 year ROI, so happy with how it is going. 

Edited 16 December, 2023 by Farmer Saint

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

Well, they have a 25 year guarantee, so let's see. 

TBH at the moment we're looking at a 6 year ROI, so happy with how it is going. 

You should be all right then but they will degrade. 25 years would take me to well over 99 years old. I won’t last that long.

[Fan The Flames]

4 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

£17k - battery should have a 10 year life and panels 25 years. 

Quite pricey, I'm up for it the but the wife's priority is getting the bathrooms done next.

[Farmer Saint]

On 16/12/2023 at 15:26, Fan The Flames said:

Quite pricey, I'm up for it the but the wife's priority is getting the bathrooms done next.

Personally I see it as an investment - and it certainly seems to have been that so far, for sure. 

[Whitey Grandad]

5 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

Personally I see it as an investment - and it certainly seems to have been that so far, for sure. 

I’ve always fancied the idea of solar power but at my age it would never recover its cost.

[Turkish]

British Gas profits increase ten fold 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68303647

poor old centrica though their profits fell to only 2.8 billion

Shell only made $28b profit too

how will they cope?how are the energy bills?

Edited 17 February, 2024 by Turkish

[egg]

21 minutes ago, Turkish said:

British Gas profits increase ten fold 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68303647

poor old centrica though their profits fell to only 2.8 billion

Shell only made $28b profit too

how will they cope?how are the energy bills?

Scandalous that people were given the ability to make massive profits out of essential utilities at a huge cost to the punter. 

[OldNick]

23 minutes ago, Turkish said:

British Gas profits increase ten fold 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68303647

poor old centrica though their profits fell to only 2.8 billion

Shell only made $28b profit too

how will they cope?how are the energy bills?

If you read the article British gas were allowed to recoup the £500m they lost due to Ukraine war.Centrica have 9m customers and so they made about £300 a customer or £6 a week.

Indirectly many of the countries citizens gain from this as our pensions earn moeny to keep paying into the pension pot

[Turkish]

Guess the oven was okay though? 

[Turkish]

Why is it every year despite being PAYE and paying an accountant to do a tax return for me i end up owing them money?

 I've just been sent an email saying i owe £1500 from 2022/23. This despite the fact that in 2022/23 i got a confirmation at the time they owed me £800 then got a letter a few weeks later saying they had recalculated and i owe them £80. The last three years have all been exactly the same. Been told i'm getting a refund or all fine, then a month or so later they tell me i owe them from previous years.

Any accountants/tax people make sense of this? 

[Whitey Grandad]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

Why is it every year despite being PAYE and paying an accountant to do a tax return for me i end up owing them money?

 I've just been sent an email saying i owe £1500 from 2022/23. This despite the fact that in 2022/23 i got a confirmation at the time they owed me £800 then got a letter a few weeks later saying they had recalculated and i owe them £80. The last three years have all been exactly the same. Been told i'm getting a refund or all fine, then a month or so later they tell me i owe them from previous years.

Any accountants/tax people make sense of this? 

Is this an email from Nigeria?

[Turkish]

Just now, Whitey Grandad said:

Is this an email from Nigeria?

afraid not. 

[The Kraken]

16 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Why is it every year despite being PAYE and paying an accountant to do a tax return for me i end up owing them money?

 I've just been sent an email saying i owe £1500 from 2022/23. This despite the fact that in 2022/23 i got a confirmation at the time they owed me £800 then got a letter a few weeks later saying they had recalculated and i owe them £80. The last three years have all been exactly the same. Been told i'm getting a refund or all fine, then a month or so later they tell me i owe them from previous years.

Any accountants/tax people make sense of this? 

I always look forward to my annual call with HMRC following my tax return. This year was a complete change in tax code that got reversed when I called them up. Just so utterly random.

[Turkish]

4 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

I always look forward to my annual call with HMRC following my tax return. This year was a complete change in tax code that got reversed when I called them up. Just so utterly random.

i just dont see how it's possible it can be wrong every single year when i'm PAYE and do a tax return. They own me then they recalculate it and i owe them every single frigging year. Especially this year when it's from 2022/23 and they already recalculated that with a £900 swing in their favour at the time

[whelk]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

Why is it every year despite being PAYE and paying an accountant to do a tax return for me i end up owing them money?

 I've just been sent an email saying i owe £1500 from 2022/23. This despite the fact that in 2022/23 i got a confirmation at the time they owed me £800 then got a letter a few weeks later saying they had recalculated and i owe them £80. The last three years have all been exactly the same. Been told i'm getting a refund or all fine, then a month or so later they tell me i owe them from previous years.

Any accountants/tax people make sense of this? 

Do you moonlight as a male prostitute? 

[whelk]

1 hour ago, The Kraken said:

I always look forward to my annual call with HMRC following my tax return. This year was a complete change in tax code that got reversed when I called them up. Just so utterly random.

I have always found they are pretty on it. Last year I owed them a grand and annoyingly online said I owed nothing so they adjusted my code for a year to recoup the £1000. Literally wanted to pay and couldn’t. 

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

i just dont see how it's possible it can be wrong every single year when i'm PAYE and do a tax return. They own me then they recalculate it and i owe them every single frigging year. Especially this year when it's from 2022/23 and they already recalculated that with a £900 swing in their favour at the time

Your accountant is the one to go to here.

[Weston Super Saint]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

i just dont see how it's possible it can be wrong every single year when i'm PAYE and do a tax return. They own me then they recalculate it and i owe them every single frigging year. Especially this year when it's from 2022/23 and they already recalculated that with a £900 swing in their favour at the time

Is your accountant Barry the briefcase?

[Turkish]

46 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Your accountant is the one to go to here.

I think you may be right, 3 years in a row being out by so much said doesn’t make sense 

[Turkish]

any pension experts out there?

is it really correct that if your personal pension exceed the annual limit you pay tax on it? Even though you’ve already paid tax on when contributing towards it from your wages?

also inheritance tax is a £300k threshold and anything over that you pay 40% on correct?

[egg]

50 minutes ago, Turkish said:

any pension experts out there?

is it really correct that if your personal pension exceed the annual limit you pay tax on it? Even though you’ve already paid tax on when contributing towards it from your wages?

also inheritance tax is a £300k threshold and anything over that you pay 40% on correct?

I'm no expert, but paying more than your annual limit (£48k net) into your pension does have tax consequences. If you've not used your full allowance over the last few years though, you should have unused allowances available to absorb any over contribution in this financial year. 

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

any pension experts out there?

is it really correct that if your personal pension exceed the annual limit you pay tax on it? Even though you’ve already paid tax on when contributing towards it from your wages?

also inheritance tax is a £300k threshold and anything over that you pay 40% on correct?

Are you talking about when your pension is paid out to you? If so then yes, your pension is subject to the usual income tax rules. When you paid into your pension from your wages it was not taxed. The maximum you can contribute in one year tax free is now £60,000. (Please check these figures).

The income Tax personal allowance is now (still) £12,750 and your state pension counts towards this. This threshold has been frozen since 2021/2022 and those receiving the State Pension are getting close to this. It’s called Fiscal Creep. There are a lot of those in the Treasury.

Inheritance Tax is particularly pernicious. You have a personal allowance of £325,000 and everything above that is taxed at %40. When a spouse dies there is no tax on transfers to the surviving spouse and their allowance can be added to make a combined figure of £650,000. There is an extra allowance for your home if it is passed on to your children or grandchildren.

It is grave robbing in its vilest form. Rummaging through the pockets of the dead before the descendants get a look in. Many countries have effectively abolished it.

Don’t get me started 🤬

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax

[Lord Duckhunter]

3 hours ago, egg said:

I'm no expert, but paying more than your annual limit (£48k net) into your pension does have tax consequences. If you've not used your full allowance over the last few years though, you should have unused allowances available to absorb any over contribution in this financial year. 

I’m pretty sure you can use 3 years of unused allowance. I think you can also pay into your partners pension if they have any unused allowance as well. 

[Whitey Grandad]

4 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I’m pretty sure you can use 3 years of unused allowance. I think you can also pay into your partners pension if they have any unused allowance as well. 

It’s a minefield. And the rules change on a whim more frequently than the wind.

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Are you talking about when your pension is paid out to you? If so then yes, your pension is subject to the usual income tax rules. When you paid into your pension from your wages it was not taxed. The maximum you can contribute in one year tax free is now £60,000. (Please check these figures).

The income Tax personal allowance is now (still) £12,750 and your state pension counts towards this. This threshold has been frozen since 2021/2022 and those receiving the State Pension are getting close to this. It’s called Fiscal Creep. There are a lot of those in the Treasury.

Inheritance Tax is particularly pernicious. You have a personal allowance of £325,000 and everything above that is taxed at %40. When a spouse dies there is no tax on transfers to the surviving spouse and their allowance can be added to make a combined figure of £650,000. There is an extra allowance for your home if it is passed on to your children or grandchildren.

It is grave robbing in its vilest form. Rummaging through the pockets of the dead before the descendants get a look in. Many countries have effectively abolished it.

Don’t get me started 🤬

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax

thanks for the info, as i thought then. They find a way to get you dont they. Seems crazy that they'd tax you for putting more into your pension when you're actually easing the burden on the country for the future.

What happens if you take out a lump sum early? I've got a couple of pension plans one is a good one which i intend to keep going until i retire but the other is from an old employer, is a lot smaller but apparently i can cash it in in 7 years time the full amount would take about 3-4 years off the mortgage. Assume i'll be taxed a lot on it if i cash it in?

 

 

[egg]

24 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I’m pretty sure you can use 3 years of unused allowance. I think you can also pay into your partners pension if they have any unused allowance as well. 

That's my understanding as well. 

[Weston Super Saint]

15 minutes ago, Turkish said:

thanks for the info, as i thought then. They find a way to get you dont they. Seems crazy that they'd tax you for putting more into your pension when you're actually easing the burden on the country for the future.

What happens if you take out a lump sum early? I've got a couple of pension plans one is a good one which i intend to keep going until i retire but the other is from an old employer, is a lot smaller but apparently i can cash it in in 7 years time the full amount would take about 3-4 years off the mortgage. Assume i'll be taxed a lot on it if i cash it in?

 

 

You can just transfer it to the 'good' pot and have a slightly bigger pension.

At some point (age 55?) You can take a lump sum from pension pot tax free (25%???) which can be used for whatever.

I believe the rules have changed now so you don't have to use your pension pot to buy an annuity or any other type of pension and can take the whole lot out and blow it on hookers and coke if you want - but bear in mind you'll have to pay tax on anything over the tax free allowance...

[whelk]

18 minutes ago, Turkish said:

thanks for the info, as i thought then. They find a way to get you dont they. Seems crazy that they'd tax you for putting more into your pension when you're actually easing the burden on the country for the future.

What happens if you take out a lump sum early? I've got a couple of pension plans one is a good one which i intend to keep going until i retire but the other is from an old employer, is a lot smaller but apparently i can cash it in in 7 years time the full amount would take about 3-4 years off the mortgage. Assume i'll be taxed a lot on it if i cash it in?

 

 

Was 25% of lump sum was tax free and pay tax on rest. Also the age was 55 when you can cash in but that might be changing.