EV Discussion thread

JKenH

Government decisions on where (and when) to levy taxes usually are based on how much damage will be done to their election chances. EV ownership is higher among the better off whereas Labour’s political power base has historically been the poorer members of society - the reverse applies to the Tories. One would therefore expect the current government to lean towards taxing the better off (i.e. EV drivers) to make good any shortfall. Against this is the desire to see more of us driving EVs so they won’t want to alienate those most likely to drive EVs. Perhaps,therefore, the burden of making up the shortfall won’t fall on the motorist.

Once EV adoption is widespread and targets have been met, however, (wealthier) EV drivers will be fair game.

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81905522#Comment_81905522

There's also the wider consideration of balancing the budget, and the revenue currently raised from fuel duty is not a trivial amount. Not easy to replace when you've already ruled out any increases to Income Tax, NI or VAT.

Those who are least off probably don't even own a vehicle, so to shift the tax burden away from motorists and onto them through general taxation doesn't seem a socially just thing to do.

EricMears

Heedtheadvice: "If memory serves me well the high tax on vehicles ( and their use) was to pay for the required infrastructure"

Gosh, your memory goes back even further than mine 😁

I wasn't driving (or indeed born) before WW2 but from what I've read, the "Road Fund Licence" was indeed intended to give a quick boost to road building & repairs once the 'Red Flag Act' had been repealed and many new drivers expected many new roads.

As is their wont, successive governments behaved shabbily and treated motorists as a 'cash cow' rather than spending their contributions as promised. If the "Road Fund" had remained in place and received all incomes promised to it, our roads system would now be the envy of the world rather than the disaster it's become.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81905397#Comment_81905397

I noticed recently, when paying my annual fee for the use of my car on the public highway that VED does now seem to have become accepted as a tax. The e-mail receipt from DVLA is headed "Confirmation of Vehicle Tax"

zeupater

Hi

… and all this avoids looking at the bigger picture ….

Considering that one of the major arguments for the transition to EVs is a significant reduction in health related pollution and it's cost to the NHS, shouldn't it be accepted that the significant uplift in energy both domestic & commercial electricity costs when allocated to electrified transport in addition to the VED changes for EVs already both offset the anticipated loss of fuel duty revenue …. with this all being before the anticipated massive health spending savings are taken into account, because isn't that what healthcare experts & others have said for years!

Anyway, the government (whatever colour) must have taken the long term costs of such policy decisions into account long ago as they invariably claim to do nothing that isn't fully costed, so to come to some form of recent realisation that past departmental policy change decisions may have a fiscal effect on other areas of government should be considered either totally unbelievable or intentionally misleading ….

Governments need to remember that every action has a related reaction and should therefore consider that the butterfly effect has significant grounds in basic logic ….

Z …. 🦋

paul991

Govt policy is to get them through next election no longer.

shinytop

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81906714#Comment_81906714

as long as that?

michaels

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81905522#Comment_81905522

The higher the household income, the more likely they were to vote Labour in 2024

https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/49978-how-britain-voted-in-the-2024-general-election

These days taxation policy seems to be entirely about raising the most revenue while losing the least votes, regardless of economic efficiency.

JKenH

Thank you. There were some interesting statistics in there, particularly the one you quoted. There is, though, often much more to this than bare statistics. High income doesn’t necessarily equate to feeling well off. My income now is only around half of what it was when I was at my earning peak - probably a third after inflation is taken into account - yet I have never felt better off. Generally the older you get the better off you feel. ONS statistics from 2020 show that 27% of pensioners are millionaires and pensioners tend to vote Conservative or Reform.

Many high earners tend to live in cities and are more likely to have a metropolitan liberal outlook but if renting or struggling with a big mortgage and losing access to income related benefits such as childcare may feel poor. Those who have paid off their mortgages and no longer have responsibility for children may feel more wealthy even if their income is lower. Property ownership rather than income, perhaps, is a better indicator of wealth and interestingly those in rented accommodation do show a distinct bias in favour of Labour.

Another interesting statistic - Research by the Rowntree Foundation found 92% of the 100 UK constituencies with the highest rates of working-age health-related benefit claimants are held by Labour, suggesting a high, proportion of benefit recipients vote Labour.