Why on earth do we pay car tax?
Discussion
I spent about 6 minutes this morning sitting in a dentist's waiting room with no mobile or wifi signal - I know... the horror... - so I actually found myself having to amuse myself with my own thoughts!
One which came to mind was who on earth came up with the idea of car tax, and why?
Okay, there's the usual all-encompassing "why" in that governments delight in taking as much of our money as they can and like to try and cut it up into small chunks, hoping we won't notice quite so much, but even so, it seems like a spectacularly daft tax, compared to just rolling it up into a slightly higher fuel duty.
Putting it on fuel duty just seems so much fairer. Got a V8 that you only drive 2k miles a year? Fine, you pay tax on 2k's worth of petrol. It's more than you'd pay for driving 2k in a little 1.6 eco-box, which is fair enough given that you are kicking our more emissions per mile, and probably generating marginally more wear and tear on the road because you've probably got a heavier vehicle, but that's fine, it's your choice. Equally, if you really want to do 40k miles a year in your V8 you can, but it's going to cost you! Again, your choice, and what's wrong with that?
As for the £390 extra for cars costing over £40k, how on earth do they justify that? Do more expensive cars somehow use more of the road? It would be interesting to know if there are any cars where a model over £40k actually emits less CO2 than one under £40k as well.
One which came to mind was who on earth came up with the idea of car tax, and why?
Okay, there's the usual all-encompassing "why" in that governments delight in taking as much of our money as they can and like to try and cut it up into small chunks, hoping we won't notice quite so much, but even so, it seems like a spectacularly daft tax, compared to just rolling it up into a slightly higher fuel duty.
Putting it on fuel duty just seems so much fairer. Got a V8 that you only drive 2k miles a year? Fine, you pay tax on 2k's worth of petrol. It's more than you'd pay for driving 2k in a little 1.6 eco-box, which is fair enough given that you are kicking our more emissions per mile, and probably generating marginally more wear and tear on the road because you've probably got a heavier vehicle, but that's fine, it's your choice. Equally, if you really want to do 40k miles a year in your V8 you can, but it's going to cost you! Again, your choice, and what's wrong with that?
As for the £390 extra for cars costing over £40k, how on earth do they justify that? Do more expensive cars somehow use more of the road? It would be interesting to know if there are any cars where a model over £40k actually emits less CO2 than one under £40k as well.
heisthegaffer said:
It's something else in a massive list of things wrong with the country where the government screwed up initially and have made worse.
I do agree that putting it on fuel would be fairer. It's a bit like standing charge on gas and elec being use based.
Agreed, however this would likely benefit 'rich' people with more than one vehicle and it would potentially penalise less well off people that do a lot of miles. I do agree that putting it on fuel would be fairer. It's a bit like standing charge on gas and elec being use based.
It would appear we are not the only country that pays this tax 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_tax
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_tax
BoRED S2upid said:
Agree it needs a rethink I pay £30 a year for as many miles as I like when someone in a massive 5l V8 only driving 2,000 miles a year would pay 10? 20 times as much.
Glad someone on the other side of the fence agrees, as this is literally me, £695 for maybe 3000 miles. Also, on shocking roads around here, may I add.
Kermit power said:
Putting it on fuel duty just seems so much fairer.
Many years ago they abolished RFL and introduced fuel duty to replace it, as it was so much 'fairer'. A few years later they reintroduced RFL but kept the fuel duty.If they do as you suggest then IMO history will repeat itself & it will only be a few years before VED is reintroduced.
The basic premise of car tax (and any other tax) is that you have money & they want it. The rest is just admin, excuses & 'justification'.
Problem is that the Gov't budgets need that money and it is a core part of the annual revenue, and every other option to bring 'fairness' to the equation are met with resistance from certain groups. For example, road tolls or increasing fuel duty all seem to present issues for one group or another.
One thing I would do is just equalise the whole system, so every car just pays the same amount (or at least minimise the amount of tax bands and age bands).
One thing I would do is just equalise the whole system, so every car just pays the same amount (or at least minimise the amount of tax bands and age bands).
grumbledoak said:
I believe some wag once described the job of the Chancellor was to pluck the maximum number of feathers with the minimum of squawking.
The Government (tbf, all governments): 'Drip pricing is bad for consumers! Airlines quoting a cheap rate and then adding on all sorts of service fees is bad! It disguises the true cost and misleads customers!'Also governments: 'Income tax is only 20%! Don't think about National Insurance. Or council tax. Or vehicle tax. Or dividend tax. Or inheritance tax. Or insurance tax.'
Jefferson Steelflex said:
Problem is that the Gov't budgets need that money and it is a core part of the annual revenue, and every other option to bring 'fairness' to the equation are met with resistance from certain groups. For example, road tolls or increasing fuel duty all seem to present issues for one group or another.
One thing I would do is just equalise the whole system, so every car just pays the same amount (or at least minimise the amount of tax bands and age bands).
The issue the whole fuel duty thing is you pay fuel duty (tax) and then pay VAT (tax) on the tax you have already paid. F***ing crooksOne thing I would do is just equalise the whole system, so every car just pays the same amount (or at least minimise the amount of tax bands and age bands).
TikTak said:
Glad someone on the other side of the fence agrees, as this is literally me, £695 for maybe 3000 miles.
This is also me.Plus, if you have a big engined (I.e. higher emissions), there's a period of about 10 years or whatever it is, whereby you pay this amount. But before a certain year, and after a certain, you don't pay anywhere near as much. And in some cases, it can be for the same model if car.
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