At my gas pump 39.4 cents per gallon

[SINthysist]

are taxes. They post it.

at $1.14 per gallon over 1/3 of the cost of gasoline is taxes.

Wouldn't you like to have income and other taxes abolished so that at every point of sale, you know how much the government is taking?

 

[SINthysist]

PS

1.49 - .394 = .746


Gas costs 75 cents a gallon!

 

[Gilly Bean]

You have just now noticed this?


Those have been posted for years, it is mandatory for gas stations to post it. They update em every time the government needs more money. Er.. I mean, every time the government raises the tax fairly.

 

[WriterDom]

Abolish income tax? You mean a national sales tax? Naw, would never happen. The crack head buying a crack pipe would be taxed the same rate as the rich woman buying a second home.

 

[SINthysist]

What a hoot! Good one.

We can't have every American paying thier fair share now can we?

If we did, who would the Democrats preace to?

 

[Ice Cold]

I just don't get thier prices. I pass five gas stations on a strip of road less than two miles apart and they ALL carry different prices. Sometimes I even wonder if they know what they are doing?

 

[SINthysist]

How far apart are those prices?

We do not see much variation here.

 

[Ice Cold]

They can vary by up to 12 cents. Tonight the low was .98 the high
was $1.09

 

[RhumbRunner13]

Gas?

You forgot the profit......justly earned, I might add. If you are too ignorant to understand where each PENNY of your fuel budget goes, you have no right to bitch about the cost of gas, food or Tampaxs.

The cost of a gallon of regular (87 grade) in US currency is around $.57!

I think that's about .46 Euro!

There was a term in the USSR before the collapse, it was
"Nomanclatura", the named class. They were members of the Politburo and other officials of the ruling party. They had the privilage of shopping in "state" stores that were stocked with mostly imported goods, while the "citizens" stood in lines, blocks long, to get toilet paper or a loaf of bread. We are allowing OUR politicians to do the same to us by not demanding that they be EQUAL to every citizen, period!!!! I do not think we elect officials to a level higher than ourselves.

RhumbRunner

 

[SINthysist]

If the profit margin were that high, then fluctuations would be ignored, for the most part.

Provide more argument/research for me to believe in you.

 

[WriterDom]

If the profit margin were that high, then fluctuations would be ignored, for the most part.

Provide more argument/research for me to believe in you.

That could be right. But you have more layers than Exxon. There are distributors,retailers, refineries and perhaps even more. I'm not a gas man unless I eat beans. Everyone gets a piece of the pie. Gomer's independent gas station has to make a profit, otherwise, Gomer has no income and goes out of business. If you loaded your tank from a oil tanker you wouldn't get very far.

 

[RhumbRunner13]

Levels.

Dom hit it on the head!!! Each level of business in the distribution cycle must make a 12 - 15% profit or cease to exist!! The independent trucker who picks up a tank full of gas must cover his operating expenses, depreciation on a $150,000 truck, taxes, and a fair profit to support his family!!! It's all capitalism, it works and the alternative, as far as I have seen, is for everything to be turned over to a "government" and we all work for them!!

I'd go postal!!

RhumbRunner

 

[JazzManJim]

Having been a gas jockey, and in the management pipeline when I was younger, I can help on this.

Most individual gas stations have about 5-7 cents worth of play in their pricing scheme. That's where their profit lives.

How they price their gasoline depends on a few things: how many other stations are nearby and what their prices are (because you want to stay competitive, and if you're the only game in town, you can price higher), where your station is relative to other nearby stations (are you the only station on the northbound side of the highway? Then you'll price your gas higher than the four station on the other side of the highway, rightly betting that most folks will pay a few cents more for your gas then hit two u-turns to get cheaper gas), and where you station is, relative only to itself (are you next to a busy highway interchange? You can price higher. Are you near a city center? Same thing. Are you more rural, or in a neighborhood? Lower prices than "in the city"). Lastly, you can build profit by selling other things (like most mini-marts do). If that arm of your store is doing really well, you can opt for lower gas prices. That is (among other things) as far as I know, WaWa's trick to having pretty much the lowest prices in any area I've seen.

Of course, your beginning price, before your profit margin kicks in, is dictated to you by the oil company and is mitigated not only by their costs, but also by the cost of getting the product to you. some stations have to absorb that second cost (for which they get to start off with a lower price) and some don't (and start with a higher price).

 

[Svedish_Chef]

You going to bitch about taxes and prices?

A gallon is 4.5 litres.

The USD is double the AUD.

Price paid today in aust 80c AUD per litre

51.5% of that is federal taxes.

 

[mig]

39.4 cents


I'd love to pay that.

Here around £3 per gallon,most of which is tax.

 

[android1966]

In the UK about 80% of the cost of fuel is tax.
a gallon in the US is roughly 0.8 of a UK gallon,
but it still works out we pay about 4$ for a US
gallon. 7$ for 20 cigarettes.

 

[heterotic]

So that's why I see a lot more Brits with mopeds than Americans (other than maybe in Hawaii)
I have noticed that gas retail is dependent on location, I know of one station right next to the freeway that's consistently $0.15 more than one adjacent to it, less than 50 feet away, but which can't be seen from the freeway.
Sales tax instead of income tax would be kinda nice. If they got rid of the IRS that would save billions a year right there.

 

[SINthysist]

yeah, but you Brits forget one little fact.

We actually have to drive places. Do realize how vast and wide Kansas is compared to your home, let alone the rest of the states? I drive no less that 40 miles a day, almost every day just for pre-school. Then I teach classes, one way 20 to 45 miles away.

you have the luxury of $3 a gallon. We would shut down at that level of taxation.

 

[SINthysist]

Speaking of layers, the first gouging occurs at the OPEC level and thier carefully managed and controlled "shortages" for profit. It's about time we removed a certain "evil" monarchy.

(Calm down p_p_, I'm not talking about the Royals...
























yet!)

 

[WriterDom]

We actually have to drive places. Do realize how vast and wide Kansas is compared to your home, let alone the rest of the states? I drive no less that 40 miles a day, almost every day just for pre-school. Then I teach classes, one way 20 to 45 miles away.

you have the luxury of $3 a gallon. We would shut down at that level of taxation.

yep, the whole of the UK wouldn't make it into our list of the top ten largest states.

 

[SINthysist]

But they'd get to put two more Liberal Senators and Gawd knows how many Liberal Congressmen into the House.


I'm surprised Bill didn't open an office in London!

 

[mig]

After reading some of the things posted here,it seems that a new
word has entered the language.

It is 'pratspeak',or,talking through your little brown hole.


Getting rid of the royal family?.

What a good idea.

 

[SINthysist]

Mi llama Maizeholio

Neccesita Picata para Mi Bunghole.


BUNG







hole



Buuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnggggggggggg




hole



bunghole...




TALK TO THE ASS BAAAAYYYYYYBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEE1

How cheeky of me!

 

[mig]

Well,if the cap fits...

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Sales tax instead of income tax would be kinda nice. If they got rid of the IRS that would save billions a year right there.

Well, a sales tax would not rid us of the IRS, but it would cut down their size a lot. The IRS has other fish to fry than just income tax, and they would still have to enforce the sales tax, collect it, etc. - but it would cut them down quite a bit.

The good thing about a sales tax in place of an income tax, is that it accomplishes what taxes are supposed to be for; paying your fair share according to what you use, rather than what you make/contribute/etc.

If I pay 10% sales tax on a gallon of gas, and I use 10 gallons a week, then I am probably paying more of my fair share of road use, EPA, etc., than someone who pays 38% income tax and uses 5 gallons of gas a week.

Sales tax is about the most practical tax we can engineer that is closest to the actual costs we inflict on society by consuming resources, whether they be food, fuel or services.

Does someone who makes 10 million dollars a year really consume 2000 times as many resources as someone who makes 10 thousand dollars? No. But that is how much more tax they pay (theoretically - before exemptions, deductions, loopholes).

Why do pols and socialists dislike sales taxes in place of income taxes?

1) They can't play class warfare games as easily with sales taxes, because sales taxes are inherently fair and evenly distributed. It is harder to claim that the rich are getting some kind of tax break when they pay the same tax rates the poor do.

2) You can't give tax breaks to your fave social causes.

3) With a flat sales tax, you can't inflict sin taxes on people - thereby making it hard to manipulate people's behavior.

4) You can't give your consituents tax rebates, wealth redistribution, etc. - making it hard to buy votes by promising "welfare" and social programs.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.