An overhaul of the car tax system that would see spiralling costs for drivers of the most polluting cars is a ‘ticking timebomb’, the government has been warned.
The Tories believe it could become next year’s 10p tax row and have deeply criticised the proposals.
During a debate ministers were told it was a mistake to apply the highest band of vehicle excise duty to cars registered after 2001.
The government has been accused of using it as a ‘stealth tax’ by concealing the changes made in the Budget.
The Conservatives estimate that a large number of families would see car tax double, but would not be able to afford to change their car.
They believe that 3.7m people will lose £90 a year under the proposals.
The government is pushing the changes through on the back of environmental awareness.
Drivers of the most polluting cars (band M) will pay £440 in tax and from April 2010 people buying such car will pay a one-off ‘showroom tax’ of up to £950.
In a Tory-led debate on Wednesday, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Philip Hammond called the measures a ‘ticking timebomb’ under the chancellor's successor for 2009, ‘just as surely as his predecessor's Budget was primed to explode under him’.