Road tax is going up for most - MSE News

Deptfreemoneytart_2

I bought my petrol 2ltr car new in April 2004, in Sep. 2009 I had it converted to dual fuel, petrol to start the engine until its warm enough to switch itself over to LPG, about a mile. After the conversion the government reduced my Vehicle Tax by £10 per year.
My CO2 at every MOT test since has been almost zero.
I think I should be paying less vehicle tax because of this.
I also only do an average 5,000 miles a year, yet I have to pay extra insurance due to modifying my car, £305 vehicle tax in 2018/9 and the only benefit I get is the cost of fuel at 0.557p per ltr.
Because of all the above, I think that the government should scrap Vehicle tax altogether and put the price on fuel.
This way the vehicles that use the roads the most would pay for that use and the rest of us would benefit for our efforts to reduce pollution by driving less miles and in less polluting vehicles. Company vehicles delivering food for production or sale should then be able to claim Income Tax relief for those vehicles along with other vehicles such as Fire, Ambulance, Police and other emergency services, plus any other vehicles the Government feels should qualify for the relief.

AdrianC

Deptfreemoneytart wrote: »

My CO2 at every MOT test since has been almost zero.

The MOT doesn't check CO2 levels. It checks CO. Carbon Monoxide, not Carbon Dioxide.

Any petrol car with a working catalytic converter (so 1992-on) should have near-as-dammit zero CO, because one of the jobs of a cat is to oxidise CO into CO2. The MOT fail limit for a petrol car of the age of yours is 0.2% CO, 0.3% for 1992-2002 - versus 3.5% for pre-cat.

LPG doesn't affect CO2 emissions much, relative to petrol - about 10% typically. It's still a hydrocarbon fuel, burnt in the exact same way, usually with a much less sophisticated fuelling system. Is your LPG open- or closed-loop? Is it an old-school vaporiser, or injection (vapour or liquid, single- or multi-point)?

carcrazykeith

What happened to the "old Rule" about pre March 2006 vehicles over 255g/km? It used to be capped to same as 255g/km but looks now like up to £570 ??? I drive mainly LPG/Petrol cars + an LPG Hybrid - surely one of the 'cleanest' options bar pure electric? Why doesn't the Gov't encourage cleaner fuels? Why is the PM being driven in "gas-guzzling" 5 litre Petrol Jaguars (check out the Reg Numbers!) 264g/km on one and "0" on the other one??? (and inside the ULEZ?). Surely the wrong example to set?

AdrianC

carcrazykeith wrote: »

What happened to the "old Rule" about pre March 2006 vehicles over 255g/km?

Nothing happened.

It used to be capped to same as 255g/km but looks now like up to £570 ???

Nope, something first registered before 23/3/06 is still Band K, £325, at most.
https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables/rates-for-cars-registered-on-or-after-1-march-2001
Note the starred footnote.

Why is the PM being driven in "gas-guzzling" 5 litre Petrol Jaguars

Because Jaguar only built the XJ Sentinel armoured version with the 5.0 v8, not with the diesel. Presumably, that's down to the diesel simply not being up to the extra weight.

Remember, the petrol ULEZ standard is Euro4, so they're compliant.

electrophotic

The fuel tax idea is a good one. My car tax will be £265 this year, and I'm doing less than 250 miles a year. Looking forward to becoming tax exempt (that's provided the govt don't move the goalposts again ...)

carcrazykeith

Thanks Adrian - the starred footnote wasn't on the MSE script - I am VERY relieved to know it still exists. I have deliberately restricted my car buying habit as I don't want to buy a cheap 2006 or later car and pay just as much to tax it! I LOVE driving different cars - and there's so many for me to choose from! Cheers, Keith