test please delete

[Bunk]

Wot's this "old banger" tax then?

Wouldn't affect you Zeity, you're a spring chicken

[Bunk]

Morning all

[Mich the Tester]

Wot's this "old banger" tax then?

It's one of the Dutch government's many tax rises. People with cars 25 years old or more were exempt from road tax as most of them only used the car a couple of times in the summer (and some just couldn't afford a newer car), but now that age has risen to 40 years. It means lots of old bangers driven by people who couldn't afford better are no longer affordable, but also some classic cars are now more expensive to run. It doesn't bother me so much personally. However, the plan they had to tax company cars at catalogue value even if they're worth bugger all was more of a concern, but they've compromised on that. All in all, it's just the usual Dutch socialist approach of making nice things so expensive that only rich people can afford them. The Daimler is, as yet, unaffected by all this, but I fear that they'll attack the older company cars before long too as the government's basically desperate for money.

The really sad thing is that they're doing this at a time of high unemployment; older cars provide jobs for mechanics and there were hundreds of small businesses dedicated to keeping classic cars on the road, employing thousands of people and providing lots of apprenticeships for the yoof; many of those businesses are now going bust as people get rid of their old minis, beetles, 2CVs and so on. Effectively, by killing off one sector of the economy, the rest of us will have to cough up the money.

[zeitghost]

Ah.

The sort of thing that dear old GB did in 1997 then, but with knobs on.

[Bunk]

It's one of the Dutch government's many tax rises. People with cars 25 years old or more were exempt from road tax as most of them only used the car a couple of times in the summer (and some just couldn't afford a newer car), but now that age has risen to 40 years. It means lots of old bangers driven by people who couldn't afford better are no longer affordable, but also some classic cars are now more expensive to run. It doesn't bother me so much personally. However, the plan they had to tax company cars at catalogue value even if they're worth bugger all was more of a concern, but they've compromised on that. All in all, it's just the usual Dutch socialist approach of making nice things so expensive that only rich people can afford them. The Daimler is, as yet, unaffected by all this, but I fear that they'll attack the older company cars before long too as the government's basically desperate for money.

The really sad thing is that they're doing this at a time of high unemployment; older cars provide jobs for mechanics and there were hundreds of small businesses dedicated to keeping classic cars on the road, employing thousands of people and providing lots of apprenticeships for the yoof; many of those businesses are now going bust as people get rid of their old minis, beetles, 2CVs and so on. Effectively, by killing off one sector of the economy, the rest of us will have to cough up the money.

I could understand it if they had a big new car industry that they were trying to prop up by forcing people to ditch old cars and buy new ones, but do the Dutch even make many cars?

[norrahe]

I could understand it if they had a big new car industry that they were trying to prop up by forcing people to ditch old cars and buy new ones, but do the Dutch even make many cars?

Nope and even the new ones aren't affordable.

[Mich the Tester]

Ah.

The sort of thing that dear old GB did in 1997 then, but with knobs on.

The landlady at my lodgings is rather upset that she'll have to pay tax on her beloved 1980 Renault 4 and now wants a reliable 40 year old banger instead, which might be a challenge. The motto behind the bar in her pub sums up her attitude; 'don't steal, the government doesn't tolerate competitors'.

[Mich the Tester]

I could understand it if they had a big new car industry that they were trying to prop up by forcing people to ditch old cars and buy new ones, but do the Dutch even make many cars?

No, they had a car industry when DAF made cars, but they killed that with taxes. MINI are going to make cars in Holland starting next year but most will be for other markets.

Cars here are expensive; you have the factory price, plus 42% car sales tax, plus 21% VAT on top of the car sales tax, so cars cost nearly twice as much as they do in Germany. Most new cars are sold to lease companies and used as company cars, and the driver then pays extra income tax on 25% of the catalogue price (that's the whole price with sales tax and VAT) every year. So the VAT is a tax tax, and the company car tax is a tax tax tax. See my sig for what I think of it.

In fact, the biggest source of employment in the Dutch car industry is maintenance and repairs, and that's exactly what they're hitting.

[norrahe]

No, they had a car industry when DAF made cars, but they killed that with taxes. MINI are going to make cars in Holland starting next year but most will be for other markets.

Cars here are expensive; you have the factory price, plus 42% car sales tax, plus 21% VAT on top of the car sales tax, so cars cost nearly twice as much as they do in Germany. Most new cars are sold to lease companies and used as company cars, and the driver then pays extra income tax on 25% of the catalogue price (that's the whole price with sales tax and VAT) every year. So the VAT is a tax tax, and the company car tax is a tax tax tax. See my sig for what I think of it.

In fact, the biggest source of employment in the Dutch car industry is maintenance and repairs, and that's exactly what they're hitting.

Not to mention teh finance packages on new cars are useless. It's the one thing I miss about the UK, the fiance deals were much better and it was easier to buy a car.

We've just signed up for a PAYG car, we don't need one all the, so will just pick one up when we need one.

[Mich the Tester]

Not to mention teh finance packages on new cars are useless. It's the one thing I miss about the UK, the fiance deals were much better and it was easier to buy a car.

We've just signed up for a PAYG car, we don't need one all the, so will just pick one up when we need one.

I wouldn't buy a new car anyway. Most of them look like Darth Vader's helmet and the depreciation is horrific.