Car tax disc to be axed after 93 years

[Deleted User]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25223631

spacey2012

It should be abolished altogether, we pay more than enough "tax" on fuel and those that use the roads more pay more.

Iceweasel

As far as I can see - it's not the paying money to use a car that is being abolished - it's only the physical disc itself.

Winston Churchill abolished Car Tax back in 1937 and the VED just goes into the general funds, along with all the other kinds of 'tax' we all pay.

So we all pay for the roads - including cyclists - who are often accused (or shouted at) of using them for free.

I thought the Direct Debit option was a good idea - until I read this bit:

The new option of paying by monthly direct debit is also expected to cost 5% more than paying for a full year in one go.

No benefit at all.

sinbad182

Except car users pay more towards the overall kitty than bicycle users due to the additional tax added to vehicle ownership.

Building_Surveyor

Since everything went electronic I couldn't see the purpose of displaying the disk anyway.

LandyAndy

How will I know, when buying a car privately (or indeed from a dealer), that it is taxed?

Iceweasel

I can see the likelihood of the VED becoming like the insurance and be down exclusively to the individual owner to pay it, meaning that most cars would be sold with no 'tax' continuing for the next owner.

That would certainly be the case if many/most folks changed to a monthly Direct debit.

~Chameleon~

LandyAndy wrote: »

How will I know, when buying a car privately (or indeed from a dealer), that it is taxed?

Presumably there will be an online database or app that can be checked similar to the MID one for insurance. Actually, thinking about it, you can already check online whether a vehicle is taxed on the gov website.

Aretnap

Iceweasel wrote: »

Winston Churchill abolished Car Tax back in 1937 and the VED just goes into the general funds, along with all the other kinds of 'tax' we all pay.

If we're feeling pedantic, it was road tax (or Road Fund Licence) which Churchill abolished. Vehicle Excise Duty means "vehicle tax tax", so "Car Tax" is quite a reasonable shorthand for it - a tax levied on cars (and some other vehicles).

colino

As cars can be found in most towns and cities without even a beer mat in place to pretend to be taxed, how is this change going to benefit anyone? Scrap the separate tax and add the tax to fuel. The more you use the more you pay, simple.
Might mean less money for Siemens or whoever else is raking it in running the agency.

Stoke

colino wrote: »

As cars can be found in most towns and cities without even a beer mat in place to pretend to be taxed, how is this change going to benefit anyone? Scrap the separate tax and add the tax to fuel. The more you use the more you pay, simple.
Might mean less money for Siemens or whoever else is raking it in running the agency.

As someone who uses his vehicle a lot, I fully support this. I believe that tax should be on the fuel, not the vehicle.

My issue with the VED is that it's a tax on the poor, it's a tax on those who cannot afford the newest vehicle.