Price of gas

[jlwhorf]

I pulled this off another discussion board and thought it was interesting.

Jonathan
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What should Congress do about the price of gas?

We all know the issue at hand, it has been on the news for weeks, and now Congress has gotten into the act. After wasting our time and money on probes into steriods in baseball, the Patriots videotaping issue, they now have launched inquiries into why American Corporations made so much money, in the last year.

BY WHAT RIGHT?

What right does Congress have to make this type of inquiry?

Lets look at the economics of it;

Do you know who makes the most money off a gallon of oil?


THE GOVERNMENT!
Yes, that's right, the average combined state and federal taxes on Gasoline are $0.51/gal.

With Oil at $100/barrel the cost of crude in a gallon of gasoline is $1.83/gal.

The average cost of refining, transportation, and marketing, including the cost fo government compliance is $0.52/gal

The average profit of the oil company is $0.28/gal.

The average profit of the gas station is $0.12

This equals the average price per gallon right now of $3.29/gallon

So, yes Exxon made $39 Billion in profit last year.

The part that no one will discuss is that they invested $426 Billion to make that!

That's 9% profit!

And Congress is complaining!

How would Our congresspeople like it if we piad them their roughly $170,000/yr. salary, but only let them keep $15,300?

I am wlling to bet that they would not think that very fair.

On another note, where in the Constitution does it say that Congress has the right to regulate profits?

These people who complain about $3.00/gal. gas are quite happy to pay $7.00/ gal for water!

[chaos4NH]

Good points Jonathan. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I recall that the profits made by oil companies are at a lower Return on Investment Rate than the drug companies and many other sacred businesses, Dunkin Donuts for one! Speaking of Dunkin Donuts, figure out the cost per gallon when a large hot chocolate is $2.50!
The oil companies sell multi-billion gallons of gasoline to make those billions, simple supply and demand, we buy, they profit.

[TroyV]

Regardless of whose fault it is, it is making this activity a lot more difficult to do.

I don't drink 40 gallons of water during a track event, nor do I drink hot chocolate at that rate.

[ctkag]

The other thing is that the oil producers aren't getting that $100 per barrel - most of that is going to the investors/speculators/traders in the commodities market. They have much of the control over the price of a barrel of oil.

[SSNH]

Fuel Tax Credits and Refunds

A federal excise tax is imposed on gasoline ($.184 per gallon), clear diesel fuel ($.244 per gallon), and clear kerosene ($.244 per gallon). The amount of these taxes may be credited or refunded if these fuels are used in many types of off-road uses. Common off-road uses include use as heating oil, use in stationary engines, use in non-highway vehicles, and use in separate engines mounted on highway vehicles.

Generally, refunds of $750 or more may be claimed quarterly on Form 8849, (PDF) Claim for Refund of Excise Taxes. Claims not made on Form 8849 may be claimed as income tax credit on Form 4136, (PDF) Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuel. See the forms and their instructions for specific claim requirements.

Note that a credit or refund is not allowable for the following:

*Any use in the propulsion engine of a registered highway vehicle, even if the vehicle is used off the highway

*Any fuel that is lost or destroyed through fire, spillage, or evaporation

*Any use of dyed diesel fuel or dyed kerosene. In fact, you may be subject to a substantial penalty if you use dyed fuel as a fuel in a registered diesel-powered highway vehicle

It is important to keep records to support your claim. Keep these records at your principal place of business. These records should establish the number of gallons used during the period covered by the claim, the dates of purchase, the names and addresses of suppliers and amounts bought from each in the period covered by the claim, the purposes for which you used the fuel, and the number of gallons used for each purpose.

See Publication 510 if you use propane or other special fuels in registered highway vehicles. If you do, you may be liable for tax on this use.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8849.pdf

[jimmacsrx7]

ctag, I agree completley with you. The same people who came up with a sophisicated shell game to buy whole blocks of mortgages have kept at it with the price per barrel crap. I realize that world demand is going up but the trading markets are fanning the flames.
Remember when the digital world was going to end in 1999 and the newness of the internet for all pushed companies like Pets.com stock into the 100's
Thats my 2 cents

Jim McNamara

[enjoythemusic]

As i see it, it is capatialism and they have every right to charge as they see fit. Looking at it another way, what does a gallon of that bottle water cost you? That is JUST water, much less cost to acquire/process.

[Mark Swinehart]

State of NH tax refund information for gasoline that is purchased for off-road use.

http://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/admi ... RT122G.pdf

I would assume all states would have similar policies/procedures.

[enjoythemusic]

WARNING: Possible political stuff below, yet it is reality
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BTW: the US Gov can not 'fix' the price of oil/gas, as their fragile FIAT money scheme/system is semi-based on the price of oil as oil is largely traded in USD worldwide on trading floors. IMHO OPEC/Saudi/etc should immediatly de-link the USD to oil as the main currency, as this greatly helps protect those countries from the highly and continual devaluation of the dallor, which in turn causes the oil seller's economy much grief.

[RJ]

How about the price per gallon of milk? LOL with two kids it's crazy!

[enjoythemusic]

How about the price per gallon of milk? LOL with two kids it's crazy!

Agree, it went from $2.99 to $4.50 per gallon in only the past 6 months. But remember, the USSA Gov says we are only having about 5% inflation total during that same period. Dunno, i do the math when i shop and compare, seem a bit more to my pocketbook. How does it feel to yours?