Why is Road Tax free on some new vehicles

[TransAmDan]

Just seen an advert on TV for a Mitsubishi SUV, does over 130mpg as its part electric. The tyres are bigger than most cars, its heavier than most cars, so its having as much of or more than a damaging effect on the roads than other cars. Yet its road tax free!!!!

I think for new vehicles they should have emission tax, and road tax separate. so this SUV would still have to pay towards the roads, yet its emissions tax would be low.

If everyone gets new vehicles, then there will be no one to pay road tax, hows the roads gonna be fixed? Unless manufactures of new vehicles pay for 5 years worth of road tax in the price, as a hidden price so the customer sees its road tax free (I say 5 years, as its unlikely any new car will last longer than that, especially the batteries, in this throw away society)

Well that my thoughts anyway....

 

[saleen 192]

Just do away with road tax completey and put on the fuel, you pay for what you use,(wear and tear on the roads and emmisisons)

Take a contactors van 2013 model dose 40-50k a year with road tax of ?195 with a diesel 1.9 t engine
against a public car 2004 3lt dose 2k ayear with tax ?285 next years model tax would be ?450

and as the cars get older the tax of a car in some cases out weights the cost of the car it's self until you get to the 40 year tax free system,

there is a lot of car's on the road today (company cars good exsample) that are doing 40-50 k a year and are road tax free against the general public cars that do between 10-15 k a year or less and pay more tax but do a lot less wear tear and damage to the roads and envoriment,

RANT over,,,,

 

[AmericanThunder]

And this is precisely why they won't put road tax on fuel. Income.
The "road tax" we pay is not used for the roads anymore - only a very small percentage is.
It would not do any government any financial favours to put it on the fuel, and many people would fight it anyway - after all, fuel is already taxed twice.
If the income from road tax is taken away then something else will suffer, either high income taxes or the removal of a another service, libraries or bin collections.
This is why the rolling 25 classic car tax was scrapped in 1998 - the then government knew they needed the money to fund something else.
What benefits one person would make someone else complain, and you will never please everyone.
Company car owners are already taxed very heavily, but how much of that tax goes on road repairs? Only a small amount I'm sure.
The roads just like railways are a key part of our infrastructure but successive governments have neglected them and only now are they beginning to realise how essential they are. But how do they keep the country moving when the green party are stamping their feet on one side preventing investment in non-green initiatives and global agreements like Kyoto are trying to limit emissions?
If only the good (irony intended) Dr Beeching had left the railways alone.......

 

[Saturn Simon]

"Road tax" as such doesn't exist, as the revenue raised is not earmarked for road maintenance anymore. Road tax is called VED these days - Vehicle Excise Duty.

I agree that the logical thing to do is to scrap VED altogether and just add a couple of pennies to fuel duty to compensate (that's all it would take with the amount of fuel that gets purchased). But that's far too logical and fair for any UK government to consider.

 

[sarah]

I have to agree with you all.....only thing is, it's Council Tax that is used to repair roads etc :/

 

[AmericanThunder]

There is no free ride.
You rob Peter to pay Paul and please some. But the Pauls of the world are seeing their costs rise and ultimately its passed on. Whilst its a nice idea especially for those whose annual mileage is low, you would pay somewhere else because a service you use or rely on has higher costs.

Its only a matter of time before black boxes are programmed to deliver mileage reports to road side beacons anyway, (and probably automatically issue speeding tickets if you pass one in violation of the speed limit) and then you get billed directly. Fail to pay and bailiffs collect your car. Instant revenue and job creation scheme in one.
Then a compulsory scrappage order on all vehicles they can't monitor or track, at minimal value to the owner of course, ensures that taxes on new cars generate more revenue.

As more and more vehicles are fitted with front and rear parking cameras and hard drives for the entertainment systems, you have to wonder what is in store there too. For example: An accident deploys the air bags and GPS info including speed is automatically recorded, along with video footage from the cameras. Insurance companies could refuse to pay up if you were proven to be over the speed limit or breaking some other law, leaving you liable to be sued and/or criminally charged.

This is all do-able right now so its not a question of waiting for technology to catch up.

Oh well - use 'em and enjoy them whilst you can! :burnout:

 

[Chriswrx123]

Nothing like a happy out look on things !!! Lol