Hilary Benn defends road tax hike

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Well, in that case they need the car, so cough up. They seemed to be using the excuse that since they don't drive it, they shouldn't have to pay.

Not exactly. If this is supposed to be a "green tax" on emissions, it would be fairest to tax use rather than ownership. A bloke doing 30k miles in a Ford KA will emit more CO2 in a year than a bloke with a Jag doing 3k miles, yet the VED on the Jag will be zillions. Hence it's just a way of screwing cash out us, nothing at all to do with greenhouse gases.

[TheBigYinJames]

Not exactly. If this is supposed to be a "green tax" on emissions, it would be fairest to tax use rather than ownership.

Oh I agree with that totally. The selling of this tax as a green measure is utter bollards and an insult. What it really is is a hike in the engine-size-driven road tax calcs.

[dang65]

Not exactly. If this is supposed to be a "green tax" on emissions, it would be fairest to tax use rather than ownership. A bloke doing 30k miles in a Ford KA will emit more CO2 in a year than a bloke with a Jag doing 3k miles, yet the VED on the Jag will be zillions. Hence it's just a way of screwing cash out us, nothing at all to do with greenhouse gases.

That's kind of true, but it's probably not a very common situation. And the guy driving 30k miles will be paying rather a lot of extra tax in the form of fuel duty.

I don't think it would make much difference if VED was abolished and transferred purely to fuel so you only paid for use. A hell of a lot of people have very low VED anyway (mine will be 20 quid next year). Even the expensive cars are only paying the equivalent of a couple of tanks full of fuel. The VED system does have the advantage of keeping tabs on most of the vehicles on the road, making sure they're MOT'd and insured (I think that's a pre-requisite of getting a tax disc anyway). So it's worth keeping it going, even if the big variations from one car to another are a bit random.

[Diver]

Oh I agree with that totally. The selling of this tax as a green measure is utter bollards and an insult. What it really is is a hike in the engine-size-driven road tax calcs.

Oh yeh! Screw me over just because I drive a 1981 Ford Bronco XLT 5Ltr.

[TheBigYinJames]

Oh yeh! Screw me over just because I drive a 1981 Ford Bronco XLT 5Ltr.

The odd thing is my old pre 2001 Mondeo is now worth more than a car two years younger than it I think I'll hang on to it for a while. Apart from having to replace the wishbones every 100k miles they are dead cheap to run (and you can easily accommodate a dead hooker rolled up in a carpet in the boot)

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Oh yeh! Screw me over just because I drive a 1981 Ford Bronco XLT 5Ltr.

Well my ahem 4.8 litre V8 costs zero in road tax, but I'm keeping quiet because if they find out, they'll ban it. That said, if I did 500 miles in it last year it was a lot, even fewer this year.

[Diver]

Well my ahem 4.8 litre V8 costs zero in road tax, but I'm keeping quiet because if they find out, they'll ban it. That said, if I did 500 miles in it last year it was a lot, even fewer this year.

I don't really have a 1981 Ford Bronco XLT 5Ltr. I've got a Vauxhall Frontera 2.5

[Peoplesoft bloke]

The odd thing is my old pre 2001 Mondeo is now worth more than a car two years younger than it I think I'll hang on to it for a while. Apart from having to replace the wishbones every 100k miles they are dead cheap to run (and you can easily accommodate a dead hooker rolled up in a carpet in the boot)

It will be interesting to see how this pans out - the differences are more marked for larger cars too - £185 vs £415 for cars registered days apart.

I reckon an early 2001 won't be worth less - it'll just be impossible to sell - after all if that's the market you're in you'd just get the older car wouldn't you?

[Diver]

I'm gonna Get one of these
Tax and MOT exempt

This one