Am I the onnly one who has worked out that the new road tax system is a complete con?

Trebor16

bigmaz wrote: »

I have a similar view to the OP. I think I have actually posted a similar comment on here somewhere. Its all well and good the people replying to this saying there are cheap cars out there for £35 per year tax.... But "cheap" is relative.... Not everyone can afford these cars, and are therefore discriminated against.

They might not be able to afford them when new but as they come on to the second hand market they become affordable so the discrimination argument is very weak indeed.

Trebor16

jase1 wrote: »

Someone travelling 40,000 miles a year in a low-CO2-emitting car will nonetheless put out more CO2 than someone travelling 4000 miles in a "gas guzzler", so why should the low-mileage driver be penalised? Abolish the road tax and put a penny on the fuel tax.

The low mileage person is not being penalised. The person doing 40000 miles per year in their fuel efficient car will be paying out in fuel duty every time they fill up the car at the pumps.

Strider590

Trebor16 wrote: »

The low mileage person is not being penalised. The person doing 40000 miles per year in their fuel efficient car will be paying out in fuel duty every time they fill up the car at the pumps.

Just to add to this, nobody is being penalised for doing XYZ mileage....

It's not "Road Tax", it's VED and it's basically (for all intents and purposes) a wealth tax. Somewhat akin to window tax in the 17th/18th century.

The theory being that wealth brings bigger/newer/faster cars, just as it brings bigger houses with more windows.

jase1

Trebor16 wrote: »

The low mileage person is not being penalised. The person doing 40000 miles per year in their fuel efficient car will be paying out in fuel duty every time they fill up the car at the pumps.

The VED is in effect a poll tax. Everyone with a certain type of vehicle is taxed in the same manner. Of course the low-mileage person is being penalised. The high-mileage user should be paying more as he is using the road more.

Trebor16

jase1 wrote: »

The VED is in effect a poll tax. Everyone with a certain type of vehicle is taxed in the same manner.

You have a choice what car you buy and if you chose to buy one where the road tax is higher than on other cars then that is your choice. But to describe it as a "poll tax" is way over the top.

jase1 wrote:

Of course the low-mileage person is being penalised. The high-mileage user should be paying more as he is using the road more.

The higher mileage user is paying more because of the duty on fuel they use. As for the money raised from road tax it is decades since it was used directly for road building and maintenance. It is just another tax now and nothing more and bears little or no relation to how much a person drives.

Lum

Trebor16 wrote: »

You have a choice what car you buy and if you chose to buy one where the road tax is higher than on other cars then that is your choice. But to describe it as a "poll tax" is way over the top.

You have a choice what house you buy/rent and if you chose to buy one where the rates are higher than on other houses then that is your choice. But to describe it as a "poll tax" is pretty accurate actually.

adouglasmhor

As Poll means head or person it makes no sense at all.

nick74

Hammyman wrote: »

Oh. Dear. Low carbon emissions does not equal better fuel economy.

How do you work that one out?

CO2 emissions of a vehicle are directly proportional to fuel consumption (or inversely proportional to MPG, if you prefer).

nickj_2

i was talking to a plasterer a few weeks ago and he told me that his van , i think it was a fiat cost him £210 to tax , and yet the car version with the same engine and emissions etc only cost £35

wba31

kimmyginger wrote: »

I bought my car in March 2006 when car tax banding was based on engine size. We share one estate car between two of us, we have two children and at the time had pushchairs and such like to contend with. Then the government decided to move the goal posts and base the charges on cars from 2001 to be made on emissions.

Now, I don't know about you, but when purchasing a car I figure in the costs of car tax, etc. to amke sure Im not going to struggle too much. Originally I was paying about £180 per year for car tax, now its more like £290.

I'm no rocket scientist but even I can see that this is a case of positive descimination. Now you have to be able to afford a new car to be able to get the lower rate of £35 per year so hardly fair is it??? Plus wouldn't it have been advisable to change the banding on cars from the date the changes took effect.

I have looked into it, and a family could have 2 cars with emissions at the lower rate and only pay £70 per year total, whereas someone in our position can have one car, pay £290 road tax and have a lower set of emissions than these two cars combined. Plus, I there will be less cars on the road etc.

Am I barking up the wrong tree??? Or does anyone agree with me???:D

I used to own a 2.2 diesel accord that i used to do a lot of miles in - £125 a year.
My sister has a j reg 205 1.8 diesel that does about 5000 miles a year - £185 a year...

but comparing this tiny cost to the rest of motoring, why does it matter?