Plans to scrap Car Tax with up to £1.40 a mile to travel on Rd!

[Theatre of Trees]

It always works OK on Star Trek.

Very handy when those polysterene boulders are about to fall on you

 

[m20gull]

There is a system (the Motor Insurer's Bureau) for covering losses caused by uninsured drivers. Not sure how effective it is but I seem to recall it is funded by Motor Insurers collectively (ie by those of us that pay insurance!)

 

[Curious Orange]

No, no no.
Its quite simple. What we need is more ROADS.

I wasn't being entirely serious with my post Easy. If a greater proportion of the taxation taken from road users was actually re-invested into the road network then we'd have significantly better roads than we have now.

To be fair I believe that congestion on the roads has a lot to do with the transient nature of employment these days. A lot of the time people don't live in the same place as their employment, and public transport quite often doesn't get you from A to B very quickly or directly. So what choice is there.

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

1.40 a mile?!! are they having a laugh!!! i'd spend most of my wages just getting to work and back!!!

 

[pasty]

They should add car tax to petrol duty. Base it on the current rate and divide it by the average number of miles. That way the heaviest users pay the most and we can get rid of the costly tax disc system.

Been saying that for years. Why should we as a family who hardly ever use the car during the week, pay the same road tax as a rep for instance doing 100's of miles a week.

 

[Easy 10]

I wasn't being entirely serious with my post Easy.

Thats alright then. Neither was I

 

[Curious Orange]

Thats alright then. Neither was I

How entirely unexpected!!

 

[Lammy]

Been saying that for years. Why should we as a family who hardly ever use the car during the week, pay the same road tax as a rep for instance doing 100's of miles a week.

I'd vote for that! Easily the most fair system and it would also cut own on admin costs. So it will never happen.

 

[FG aka Football Genius.]

"They should add car tax to petrol duty. Base it on the current rate and divide it by the average number of miles. That way the heaviest users pay the most and we can get rid of the costly tax disc system. "

THATS UNFAIR ON RURAL LIFE FARMERS AND ALIKE, FARMERS ARE ALREADY PAYING FAR TOO MUCH ON FUEL AS IT IS.

get it down brown!

 

[BensGrandad]

What is wrong with just adding it to the price of petrol and scrapping the road tax. Largest users would then pay most. To ease conjestion not allow company cars and expenses to be ofset against tax but allow public transport season tickets to be allowed against tax. How many companies would then stop the perk of a company car and replace it with a train season ticket. Make all company cars POOL CARS for who ever in the company needs one to do a particular journey to and from their base.

 

[beorhthelm]

2 pages of debate and i bet no one has actually checked the source of the story to see how credible it is... the fact that it appears to be AOL subscription news indicates to me its probably a load of tosh.

Only one person, Icy Gull, has noted the cost of £1.40. Its about average UK earnings for average milage. that sounds realistic, especially since the rail network is at capacity so no one would actually be able to use an alternative. £1.40, half of that or even a quater of that, would basically destroy the economy as noone would be to either get to nor afford to go to work.

THIS IS A NON-STORY.

 

[Easy 10]

Beorthelm is right.
We should all be ASHAMED of ourselves.

 

[BensGrandad]

It has been reported in the press that a sysytem will be in troduced on those lines but to the best of my knowledge no figure per mile has been mentioned or whether it is every road, probably not just main roads i.e motorways A23, A3 etc.

 

[chip]

Increasing tax on higher drivers would not neccessarly reduce congestion, and that is when cars pollute the most. Thus, a high millage driver may, in fact, be polluting and congesting less than the low millage, small enginged car driver making a nonsense of the congestion/pollution argument. Company car drivers pay a tax based on the cost and CO2 emissions of their cars directly against their income so are already paying more tax. However, putting tax on fuel would seem to imply that we pay for the road usage and encourages more economical/lighter cars for high mileage drivers which is no bad thing.

In France they ban lorries from enterring towns over the weekend (hence they are all over here blocking up our roads) and we could try restricting their movements during rush hours. I think part of the problem is that we all work roughly the same hours producing the rush hour congestion. Many bus lanes and other schemes also seem to make traffic flow worse than it has been and are poorly thought out.

 

[Curious Orange]

.... and then there is the misuse of agricultural vehicles by people not involved in agriculture.

 

[Comedy Steve]

"They should add car tax to petrol duty. Base it on the current rate and divide it by the average number of miles. That way the heaviest users pay the most and we can get rid of the costly tax disc system. "

THATS UNFAIR ON RURAL LIFE FARMERS AND ALIKE, FARMERS ARE ALREADY PAYING FAR TOO MUCH ON FUEL AS IT IS.

Ho ho ho.

Farmers in Sussex fill their Range Rovers with red diesel (supposedly for non-road use), that is untaxed, and then drive on the public roads on them, paying 25p/litre, and have done for *decades*.

 

[Easy 10]

.... and then there is the misuse of agricultural vehicles by people not involved in agriculture.

Not forgetting the misuse of agricultural animals by people not involved in agriculture.

 

[m20gull]

Increasing tax on higher drivers would not neccessarly reduce congestion, and that is when cars pollute the most. Thus, a high millage driver may, in fact, be polluting and congesting less than the low millage, small enginged car driver making a nonsense of the congestion/pollution argument. Company car drivers pay a tax based on the cost and CO2 emissions of their cars directly against their income so are already paying more tax. However, putting tax on fuel would seem to imply that we pay for the road usage and encourages more economical/lighter cars for high mileage drivers which is no bad thing.

My car tax argument is not about congestion, more about fair pricing. My figures suggest about £1.40 a gallon is reasonable. Admin of road fund licence costs about £200m but raises £4.4billion. Fuel tax raises about £15billion so reducing road fund licence to cover admin only (about £10 each - who wouldn't pay car tax if it was only £10) would need to increase the tax on fuel by about 25%.

The point is that it would still only raise the same revenue, but higher users and gas-guzzlers would pay more, without any complex admin based on engine size or car type.

If you want to pay less tax, get a more economical car or persuade manufacturers to make more economic cars. Or work more hours to pay for your gas-guzzler.

Rural users need to factor in the fairness in their other costs. Farmers' incomes need to be addressed properly by other means.

 

[Beach Hut]

I'd be happy to scrap the car if there was an improvement in public transport - given this country's record it will never happen.

 

[Vankleek Hill Seagull]

Not forgetting the misuse of agricultural animals by people not involved in agriculture.