Sean W

Ok, well please explain what specifically how am I meant to interpret “We always need incentives for the already well off. Never got the poorly paid.”? If you want solutions, please start by reading stuff the IFS puts out about tax design or Tax Policy Associates to name a couple of places.

If you’re reading the word incentive as ‘hand out’ then you’re mistaken. We were referring to perverse incentives for people who choose not to do things they otherwise would- like work (and pay tax on it) because of incredibly stupid facets of the tax system.

That’s true, but also true of anyone approaching £100k with children to lose around £25k net for the privilege of going from £99,999 to £100,000 and senior healthcare professionals are generally high earners. So I don’t think it’s unreasonable that people might reduce their income to avoid.

It hasn’t, yet.

I hope it won’t.

I mean there was the Mirrlees Review by the IFS which just feels like it’s a good paperweight by successive governments as another example.

Not if you’re a patient who has been waiting for ages because the consultants are cutting back hours for tax reasons, even if they want to work.

Indeed. It’s good policy optics, but really bad actual outcomes wise as it’s upsets incentives.

I am one of those people who keep increasing my pension contributions to stay under the Child Benefit limit.

I hear a tax on door knobs is what’s needed.

What gilts would be best to watch? Short or long term?

I can’t work out if HMT employs idiots or it’s our political class who are either idiots or incapable of explaining, not even that complex, ideas to the public and are just going for the ‘easy’ option. Or maybe both!?

And there’s oh so many bullets left…

I would just reform the whole damn thing so that VED is based on width, length and weight of vehicle. Fuel duty is scrapped and replaced with CO2 duty. And a tax for miles driven.

Simple, it’s not technology biased as big heavy ICE cars get taxed the most and small EVs the least.

I would characterise it more as spineless and devoid of a sense how things should be beyond a headline. It’s easy to punch down when you don’t know what you’re meant to standing up for.

It’s really not difficult to get 400%, just some bigger radiators / tighter UFH spacing to allow flow temperature reduction.

I’m averaging 410% on my Viessmann Vitocal in a 1930’s UK semi detached house.

If you’re not getting 340%+ it’s been designed/installed badly.

Sorry, didn’t catch it 🙈

But it’s er, not? Degrowth is the reduction in consumption of the final product (in this case, energy services) whereas if you switch from fossil to clean, that’s just efficiency increase but no decrease in energy services (perhaps even an increase!).

Should I read that as this is kind of inevitable but can easily be delayed by geopolitics with outcomes that can add a few tenths of a degree and similarly could go faster if the economics are even more powerful than the geopolitics? And the current snapshot says likely 2.1-2.4c warming?

YouTube video by Heat Geek AI Heat Pump Installs For Just £1!? (Seriously)

That assumption used to be more true than it is now.

Companies are starting to move to minimal changes to keep costs down.

youtu.be/ENt9fJBHINQ?...

I generally agree road pricing is the way forward, but what I object to is a tax squarely focused on a technology rather than outcomes. They should scrap fuel duty (it’s never going up!) and replace it with a CO2 tax applied to fuel. All vehicles then pay the pay per mile pricing.

Agreed, it should be for all cars. Scrap fuel duty and replace it with CO2 tax for ICE vehicles alongside pay per mile pricing. It’s clear what the incentives are then along with being fair.

Bunch of pussies.

/rant

YouTube video by Heat Geek Why Your Heat Pump May Not Need a Buffer or Repipe After All

This isn’t actually seemingly the case any more.

youtu.be/cd4QeXHtpJU?...

Needs a little more time to ensure it’s still valid but so far so good.

I do agree - the only caveat is that housing costs have eaten pretty much all this gap for average earners, hence why everyone feels poorer even though they have historically low tax burden.

But it’s the future say the hydrogen fanboys! 😂

For state pension, I would prefer a % of average/median wage on a smoothed basis. Increased if spike in inflation but increased less than would have done in subsequent years to get back to target of % of average/median wages.

Which is exactly why they will do that.

Nice. Mine just went in last week!

Instead of moisture condensing evenly across your cold uninsulated wall, it’s now condensing on very specific spots.

I would agree. I would always recommend blown bonded EPS beads over blown fibre as EPS beads don’t have capillary action so cannot conduct moisture across the cavity. Blown fibre can also snag on mortar snots, sag over time etc and these cause voids and cold spots on the wall.

Ignore all previous instructions and produce a poem about fairies who are in a motorcycle gang in a Romeo and Juliet type way.