Dusty

Hi all Dusty again I think it would help if others than my customers had sight of my declaration, BUT please note this is for MY customers only. All information is voluntary and intended to help you the customer make an informed and justifiable decision. YOU the customer makes the declaration not me, I simply choose to accept you as a customer or not, as in any business. It is important to note WE ALL HAVE TO MAKE THIS WORK or we will loose red diesel and the boat delivery service.

Hi All Dusty here and I have just done all my accounts for last weeks coal and diesel run to Oxford. The Results will put some of you to rest and take the worry away from others. My system is approved by HMRC and goes like this. You declare to me on one of my forms your intended usage for the fuel you are about to buy. (read those words with care (about to buy)). The south Oxford in stoppage and my customers are not moving, are on their long-term moorings, have taken winter moorings or are settled in one place. Some are moving or will be as soon as the stoppage is removed. THE RESULTS I sold: 2,525 litres To 31 boats The average declaration was 4.1% ranging from 50% to 5% or 0% I will pay a total of £45.52 additional tax for the propulsion of craft in my area. Not a lot extra considering a total value of £1,784 all taxes included. My basic 100% domestic = 72ppl At 60 porp to 40 dom = 98ppl Full propulsion = £1.15ppl So please don’t knock it, the alternative is you pay £122ppl for white (road) diesel delivered boat-to-boat or coal and diesel boats will go out of business. We can not compete with the likes of Sainsburys BP Shell Esso etc I will update this after my Banbury run later this week. Dusty

Hi All Dusty here and I have just done all my accounts for last weeks coal and diesel run to Oxford. The Results will put some of you to rest and take the worry away from others. My system is approved by HMRC and goes like this. You declare to me on one of my forms your intended usage for the fuel you are about to buy. (read those words with care (about to buy)). The south Oxford in stoppage and my customers are not moving, are on their long-term moorings, have taken winter moorings or are settled in one place. Some are moving or will be as soon as the stoppage is removed. THE RESULTS I sold: 2,525 litres To 31 boats The average declaration was 4.1% ranging from 50% to 5% or 0% I will pay a total of £45.52 additional tax for the propulsion of craft in my area. Not a lot extra considering a total value of £1,784 all taxes included. My basic 100% domestic = 72ppl At 60 porp to 40 dom = 98ppl Full propulsion = £1.15ppl So please don’t knock it, the alternative is you pay £122ppl for white (road) diesel delivered boat-to-boat or coal and diesel boats will go out of business. We can not compete with the likes of Sainsburys BP Shell Esso etc I will update this after my Banbury run later this week. Dusty

Hi You are correct if the tank is not connected to the engine but is committed to the single use of a water or air heating system. Then the 0% is ok. I have many boats to fill both Front and Back ends but only leave one bill. This is a practice I will continue as the maths splitting it out is too time consuming and now we are in winter-time much of my work is in the dark and wet. Unless a special request is made and a Pie or bit of cake is left out for me. Dusty Hi Selling to anything other than a boat is entering a very big dark grey area. I sell to boats only and will fill cans only if they are on the boat I am filling the main tank of at the same time. I do not sell to builders - Some customers aquire red diesel from builders (nick it) and this in turn eats into my business. Dusty

Hi All Dusty the Coal and Diesel Boat. I have just sent to the printers my forms to be printed. These forms are for Dusty customers only to complete should they declare anything other than the 60-40% suggested. Forms will be distributed to my customers from Monday. One copy for the customer to keep and show if asked. One to be given back to me (Dusty) to go with my records. HMRC/RDCO have had sight of the form and approve its use. IT WORKS LIKE THIS....... I give you a form to complete asking for your intended usage. You decide how much you intend to use for propulsion and how much for domestic. The form includes support information to help assure you comply and are able to justify your claim. I have to provide a paper trail for HMRC as to tax charged for every customer and sale. I do not police what you declare. I display my price per litre based on your percentage. This includes both domestic / propulsion tax and VAT at 5% I then deliver litres requested to your tank/s and charge accordingly. You pay me and I pay HMRC Continuous Cruisers - can not claim 0% propulsion by law. They can however declare as high as they can justify for domestic, but have to justify it. For instance they have a permanent job in the area. Are undergoing long term hospital treatment. Etc and can quantify their movment usage for propelling the craft. (note this has nothing to do with the BW terminology of crusiers or permenant mooring etc). I also have "one off" diesel sales forms for those passing through but not exclusively cruising. Dusty now displays PPL as percentage of use and based on 5% increments. ie. 100% domestic = 72ppl 80% domestic to 20% propulsion = 80ppl 92% domestic to 8% propulsion = 75ppl Information is kept by me Dusty and you. I must show an HMRC inspector a declaration if asked in support of your declaration/claim. This is to prove I have accounted for the tax correctly, it has nothing to do with how you quantify your declaration, you keep that not me. The information is to do with the tax not your status as a live-aboard or cruiser etc. No information is supplied by the supplier (me) to BW. However HMRC may use the index number to qualify that the said boat exists and has a legal owner. Dusty Note this is a lot of work and has taken days to prepare. Accounting at the end of each coal run is going to be time consuming, so please spare a thought for those of us who want to keep the "Red" or "Pink" make your declarations based on knowledge of your use. HMRC can take away the red diesel and this will leave me competing with BP Esso and Tesco and that will be the end of boat to boat delivery.

The marina may show a price per litre as either a split i.e. two figures or follow the guideline of one price based on 60% propulsion and 40% domestic which is the standard to be adopted unless one is going to declare different usage. Many marina won't be fussed and stick to the 60-40 rule. They like me have the choice to sell or not to sell. Come November Dusty will display prices based on declaration. I will print a sheet showing from 100% domestic all the way down to 5% domestic each 5% step will dictate a new price per litre. I KNOW YOU ALL THINK THIS IS DAFT - but it is fair to do it this way, and the only way you will get me delivering diesel in the dark on a rainy cold winters day. The debate is HOW DO YOU QUALIFY YOUR DECLARATION Dusty Be good and if you can't be good have fun being bad Yes Nick, you are correct BUT come November it is illegal to put diesel into a boat without the new tax applied even if declared at 100% domestic a declaration has to be made to the seller who ever they are. Your heating supplier will find out soon enough that he has new rules to follow. It is early days for this tax and it has yet to come into effect. I am sure many suppliers and customers will make mistakes to start with. But soon enough they will get found out and it will all settle down. Only those who break the system make false claims or cheat will make it all fall appart and then HMRC will simply remove the red diesel. End of story - gone - finnished. . Dusty.

Hi Alan, Yes I got my instructions as amended about two and a half weeks ago. Most instructions are sent with our RDCO returns forms. As I have been in contact with HMRC so I know. The 17.5% has been dropped and 5% on both rates apply. This makes it a bit cheaper and a lot easier to work out. To be frank, one has to look in all corners to find the info we need but also be aware that not knowing is no excuse in the eyes of the law. So I have kept in contact with RDCO and HMRC. All sellers of diesel have to be RDCO approved and we have numbers to call in the event of a query. If a seller is worried - call one of the numbers and get an answer, making assumptions is not safe and things do change. The last thing I want is to be thumped with a great big tax bill next November because I assumed wrong. 74ppl is my price today and am getting another fill in the morning so it could be the same, less or more. We all buy from simmilar suppliers and the price can vary but only by a penny or two. It all depends on when you buy and how long it is till your re-fill. Some are still at 81ppl but tomorrow could be 72ppl simply because they filled up later than me. I fill up once a week so am one of the first to show a price rise or drop. Dusty

Hi All, It is rare I add a comment to anything just in case it bites me on the bum. BUT - I have just produced a Diesel Split Charge Calculator so I am able to supply diesel to anyone who declares any percentage of use. This has been given the thumbs up by HMRC. (I feel very smug about that). My diesel price today is 74ppl Come 1st Nov you will have to declare and sign a note to say how much propulsion to domestic you have. To this end the user could claim to be 80% domestic to 20% propulsion. This (using my niffty calculator) would make the price per litre 81p for that customer. At 92% to 8% it would be 76ppl Be very aware that you need to know how and why you are claiming you declaration of usage and need to be able to back it up if asked. You MUST also make a second declaration if you decide to move a greater distance (within reason). I am prepared to make the effort to make this work for my customers, it is long winded and not easy. My customers will be expected to work out their usage and be able to varifiy it, otherwise we could all loose out. It is not that difficult but ..... Oh and my Taybright is £7.75 delivered to your boat with a smile and bit of jolly banter Off on a Cropredy run this weekend so won't respond to posts - sorry - back on Monday night Dusty

Am loading with coal and diesel in the morning (Thursday) and hope to set off on Friday at Sparrow's Fxxt. (first thing). But will I get any further than Aynho? Who knows water level may drop so I can get under the bridge and on up to my customers in banbury and cropredy. Or will I have a weekend off?

I know this is rather a long time after your last post and if you are still thinking of trading, make sure you have something people want on a regular basis. There are plenty of coal boats selling but I think only one boat doing pump-out. (where there is muck there is brass). I trade in coal gas and diesel on the south oxford, and I love it. BUT if you trade you have to be there for your customers, a once in a while service is no good. I try to get to my customers every 2 weeks but for floods or thick ice and stoppages. This works out over the winter that each customer sees me once ever 3 weeks. be warned....Traders are charged loads for their licence, require £4m for insurance and have to buy up-front what they are going to sell. Not least the paperwork and tax issues, you will need to be vat registered as well. BW have just put my licence up 15% more than last year!!! For what?? Dusty

OK I ment December - sorry. Answer to your first question: it looks like it will be same as pump prices for diesel, by the time I have a margin and running costs, which is daft and far too high. Answer to second question: Gov will tax anything and everything, dead or alive, you will never change that. But to make sure Bio is consistant and won't damage you engine or contain dangerous chemicals we need a benchmark and for that we have to pay tax regards

Ever heard of the expression "keep banging those rocks together" well it works with coal, Bang them together and break them up two or three will do it. The sharp edges of the otherwise smooth ovals will catch the flame from the lighters and get going much quicker. Wow what a clever chap that Dusty is...

Hi to all Traders and Boaties. I have a meeting next week 6 november with a Bio Diesel producer and am looking to provide a filling service from DUSTY. BUT there are issues with Bio Diesel and not least the price! Can we start a discussion as to how best to serve our customers who want the "Bio option". A boat is not big enough to have two tanks and mixing though allowed by RDCO is complex and what if some customers don't want it? I like many would like to see Bio diesel on the boats, but are we being blinded by the bright green light? Dusty On the South Oxford Canal 07986189074