[GNG19]

Pretty much par for the course. I wouldn't be surprised if the income tax is increased in the coming years or another cess is added.

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by rocketfinger

I seriously don't understand why does salaried class, which is tax giving entity by force, whine when petrol or diesel prices go north?
...
Am I missing something which causes more hit to salaried class by fuel price hike? I'm just focusing on salaried class concerns.

It's like saying, "they could have killed us, but only took one leg". What you are saying will only make sense if they either compensated me for the extra tax I pay in fuel or make my life better. Otherwise, why am I squeezed even more when I already pay through my nose.

[anb]

Hike in fuel price begins to have a cascading effect on essentials

The rise in diesel price by over 6% (around ₹5 a litre) in the State since the beginning of the New Year has already begun to have a cascading effect. The transport cost of essential commodities such as foodgrains and vegetables has shot up, and is expected to be passed on to customer soon.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...le33833051.ece

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

Excise duty / price reduction has to come from the respective states too. It is not exactly the centre gobbling up all revenue.
Also - all states have vehemently opposed bringing Fuel & Liquor under GST.

Well dear sir lets see the centre atleast bringing tax levels to state taxes first below a breakup for your refrence for facts! Looking at the share of tax basket no prize for guessing who actually opposes GST on fuel

[stallmaster]

This gets political invariably, but I'm losing hope in our system progressively. I run a business where rising fuel costs are eating into my profits day by day. My own profits are shrinking, paying off business loans means whatever profit my company is making isn't enough to match the real inflation. I can't give my employees the pay raise they deserved in this financial year, I can't hire more employees to expand, customer base isn't increasing, customers are reluctant to pay for the rising input costs, etc.

It's a whole snowball effect. The suppliers from whom I buy raw materials are also not seeing an increase in orders.

To top that off, a hostile tax regime. I pay my CA so much for a business that isn't exactly going to thrive in this economic crisis in the near future at least.

You can't even protest. There's an organic reaction from the government against anyone protesting with whatever issue they feel they need to protest against. There's no feedback loop. The politicians are filthy rich themselves, they are completely insulated from the issues of the taxpayers.

I realize my sentences are not sounding coherent enough, but it's coming from a place of despair.

[TheARUN]

It's heartbreaking the way fuel prices are zooming up. The bigger question is will this be permanent or is it temporary?

If this is going to be permanent then its bringing a paradigm shift in the way I am thinking about my mobility

When money becomes more precious than time, its actually smarter to walk or cycle

It's all in the mindset, right now the easiest thing to do is tax petrol to generate income, its easier than the other options that may be available to whoever is setting these prices. Right now it makes sense to go electric, at least where running costs matter, but is it not a matter of time when the same mindset kicks in and electricity costs start to climb up just like petrol?

I have been working from Home for a year now, what if I have to go back to Office in the near future? Its going to pain

Public transport is not cheap either. Ola and Uber are more expensive than travelling by your own car, same with Autos. Buses are still affordable but they tire you out. The metro is the best but it is expensive, more expensive than what one would spend a two wheeler for the commute. Its confusing

Guess we have to take one day at a time

I've started watching my right foot while driving and right wrist while riding to soften the blow. Also planning to see if I can maintain the vehicles better so that they run efficiently

Imagine, not so long ago I used to ride and drive for pleasure, that pleasure is now gone

Sorry for the rant

[rocketfinger]

Originally Posted by prakash_ajp

It's like saying, "they could have killed us, but only took one leg". What you are saying will only make sense if they either compensated me for the extra tax I pay in fuel or make my life better. Otherwise, why am I squeezed even more when I already pay through my nose.

Unfortunately you are right in conveying what I exactly meant to say.

20% or 30% "salaried" tax bracket is anyways not very high voter base and on top of that, half of this gentry doesn't vote, which means our voice doesn't count and we are left to be squeezed left and right, irrespective of what party in in center.
This is very harsh but true.

[TheARUN]

Originally Posted by rocketfinger

I seriously don't understand why does salaried class, which is tax giving entity by force, whine when petrol or diesel prices go north?

Consider it from this angle, governmemt always needs money and will gather it by any mean.

Burden of extra excise duty on fuel is shared by everyone, directly by fuel prices and indirectly by higher transportation cost leading to more inflation, burden goes on everyone and not just on salaried class.

Government could have increased more taxes on salaried class or could have gone for a radical idea of linking petrol/diesel purchase to aadhar and thus indirectly getting linked to your itr return, based on your tax filing bracket (10,20,30) your fuel rate is decided ��.

For no itr , you get it for 70rs, 10% tax bracket gets it for 80 rs, 20% gets it for 100 rs, 30% gets it for 150 and above get it for 200 rs a ltr ��.

Linking fuel price to aadhar is intended for fun only but this kept aside, if burden goes on every citizen of this country then why to worry?

Am I missing something which causes more hit to salaried class by fuel price hike? I'm just focusing on salaried class concerns.

The problem with salaried class is that there is a fixed budget for food, entertainment, travel etc. When travel becomes expensive and salary does not increase, then you have to cut down on other pleasurable things that you were spending on and which were budgeted for. This is what hurts

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by rocketfinger

Unfortunately you are right in conveying what I exactly meant to say.

20% or 30% "salaried" tax bracket is anyways not very high voter base and on top of that, half of this gentry doesn't vote, which means our voice doesn't count and we are left to be squeezed left and right, irrespective of what party in in center.
This is very harsh but true.

Since we are on the topic of fuel prices and the tax revenue conundrum, lets also acccept that we are not an honest society in general and seek the earliest means to circumvent laws , be it the seat belt, traffic lights or GST. One can pay up cash for many goods/ services without getting into the GST loop, with a crude receipt from the seller. We are also a nation of freebies and subsidies which should end forthwith. Only then will the financial structure of the government be fixed.

[Vinod_nair]

Why so much hue and cry about petrol price?

My son sent in the latest price in the Mecca of fuel producer of Riyadh.
91 octane price SR. 1.81 =INR 36/-
95 octane price SR. 1.94 =INR 40/-

[ramzsys]

Look at the budget: Urban Indian taxes passed on to rural India.

Questions have been raised whether India is a democracy at all, regarding freedom of expression(dissent) and such. It is this democratic setup of 'universal adult franchise' which is ruining it for the tax payers - freebies and stuff being thrown away by Central and State governments. My State just forgave 12k crore farm loans without any assessement of merit just because the election is near.

The freebie receiving, lazy rural voter doesn't question how all this is funded. He's happy to vote for whoever gives the max. It's much easier for the politician to spend a week before election distributing the cash/gifts per vote than actually work 5 years. This is confirmed election after election where rural voting is at 75%+ while it is 50% for Urban India.

Contrary to the general perception, rural Indian distress is entirely due to overproduction and large number of small farmers working tirelessly to produce this surplus.

I don't really know how any government is going to break out of this cycle to give a relief to the direct tax payer who is also burdened with the indirect tax.

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Imagine, not so long ago I used to ride and drive for pleasure, that pleasure is now gone

Agreed. The increase in the number of vehicles on the same roads without lane expansion would mean even highway drives are not as relaxed as it used to be.

[AirWind]

I read this logic of ever increasing fossil fuel prices (taxes actually as crude is trading lower) so as to reduce consumption and thereby the reliance on these imported products that helps reduce the massive forex deficit... and this will help expedite migration to EV when there is no proper ecosystem (reliable EV, charging infra, etc.,).

This seems to be yet another flawed implementation plan by the govt. while the intent is good but execution sucks (GST, DeMo, RERA, Farm laws, etc.,) - hurting the common man and the honest tax paying citizens.

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by AirWind

This seems to be yet another flawed implementation plan by the govt. while the intent is good but execution sucks (GST, DeMo, RERA, Farm laws, etc.,) - hurting the common man and the honest tax paying citizens.

There's no implementation here. Nor will there be one. In plain words, it's all a hogwash.

An honest effort must consider improving the overall condition of public transportation and all other means of alternative energy. We haven't seen anything of that kind. I think its about time we can safely conclude that we are being looted. And the fact that I am using this word in the fear of going to jail doesn't say nice things about the situation and the country.

[chaotic]

my view - we are a flawed democracy as we view every thing through a political lens and are either for it or against it! Why not examine each issue/problem as neutrally as we can, creating a solution and then driving for it? Our independence was not achieved by opposing the British, it was achieved by asking for a logical solution to our problems.

Back to Petrol Prices, let's use this forum to examine why they are high and what could be an alternate!

On the face of it, the prices are high because the taxes are high (and not just on fuel), taxes are high as government spending is increasing (westerners call it big government). So a practical solution should involve reducing government spend, possibly starting with a cut on wasteful expenditure.

- Subsidies are an easy target for an economist, but people will oppose it (farmer protests?).
- Another easy thing to cut down on is defense, however it is backed by a small and powerful lobby
... the list goes on ...

In the end taxes on fuel, non-food commodities and income are the easy way out as they are too widely spread out and unless they cross a high threshold, are unlikely to see extreme/widespread discontent. That said, I think fuel taxes may be near the threshold!

Apologies for the rambling, sermonizing post.

[rocketfinger]

Originally Posted by prakash_ajp

An honest effort must consider improving the overall condition of public transportation and all other means of alternative energy.

I do not agree with this statement.

Quoting wiki here
India is one of the countries with large production of energy from renewable sources. As of 27 November 2020, 38% of India's installed electricity generation capacity is from renewable sources (136 GW out of 373 GW).

The pace with which this government has worked on alternate energy, primarily solar energy, is unprecedented and has been lauded very well. Mega solar projects have seen daylight in this government.

If we criticize government for its bad deeds, then we shouldn't forget to credit government for what good it does.