Quick Road Tax survey - How are UK roads funded?

[neilski]

Given that we have lots of threads about Road Tax here on PH, I thought I'd see what PH users' perception was of how UK roads are funded.

Without looking it up or referring to the millions of old threads on this subject, where do you think the money comes from to pay for our roads?

There's no right or wrong answer to this*, I'm simply trying to find out what the level of ignorance / edyucashun there is on PH in the hope we can have a meaningful discussion about how to better educate people on how the roads are funded and whether one type of road user has more right to use the roads than another.

Do you think the gubbermint / DVLA has done enough to educate you about your rights to use the road having bought a tax disc for your car?

In the absence of other means of doing this, should this be something driving instructors talk to their pupils about? Should we even go as far as putting a question in the driving test about which road users have the most right to use the roads based on the amount of road tax they've paid?

Please also feel free to say which box you ticked and why.

Of course there's a right and wrong answer!!!

[kambites]

They're funded by the state via general taxation.

There is no such thing as "road tax", it's "Vehicle Excise Duty" and is a taxation on road going vehicles rather than on road usage as such.

[Rovinghawk]

VED all goes into one big pot. A tiny amount comes out for road maintenance.

RH

[RemainAllHoof]

Aye, "vehicle tax" would be a better description.

[ZOLLAR]

All goes into one big pot and money gets dished out from there, didn't think road tax existed thought it was called VED?.
Meh tax is tax I suppose doesn't matter what it's called.

[RemainAllHoof]

Rovinghawk said:

VED all goes into one big pot alongside other tax revenue. A tiny amount comes out for road maintenance but obviously not necessarily the same money that was paid in VED.

E F Clarity?

[neilski]

I know what it's called.

[kambites]

In fact, presumably a large proportion (most?) of the cost of maintaining roads actually comes from council tax, since many roads are maintained by the local council?

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 1st June 11:07

[Megaflow]

They are not. Have you seen the state of them...

[RemainAllHoof]

Megaflow said:

They are not. Have you seen the state of them...

[otolith]

A group of friends sit down to eat in a restaurant. Some want wine, others intend to drink water. They agree to split the food bill equally but that those who want wine should pay extra to cover the cost. At the end of the meal, they all put their money in a big pile in the middle of the table, and the waiter takes it away.

How was the wine funded?

• By the people who paid extra for wine

• By everyone, since all the money went into one big pot and then got mixed in with the rest of the money in the cash register and paid into the bank with all the other takings

[Caulkhead]

The correct answer is to tick both boxes, but it won't let you do that.

[neilski]

Caulkhead said:

The correct answer is to tick both boxes, but it won't let you do that.

There's a character limit for polls otherwise I'd like to have put:

"The revenue from the "Road Tax" disc in my car is hypothecated to pay for roads"

but it won't let me do that so you'll just have to pretend.

[Man from UNCLE]

In before the "they should put it on fuel" comments, they already did.

[MX7]

Rovinghawk said:

VED all goes into one big pot. A tiny amount comes out for road maintenance.

RH

If there are 30m cars, each buying £150 of VED, that's 4.5bn.

Widening the M25 cost £3.4bn.

I suspect that VED alone would not pay for the roads, but much of the money taken from the motorist, like fuel duty, isn't spent on the roads.

[Caulkhead]

neilski said:

Caulkhead said:

The correct answer is to tick both boxes, but it won't let you do that.

There's a character limit for polls otherwise I'd like to have put:

"The revenue from the "Road Tax" disc in my car is hypothecated to pay for roads"

but it won't let me do that so you'll just have to pretend.

Or you could add a third option entitled 'Both of the above' which would be the correct answer.

[Balmoral Green]

Interesting poll.

It is quite amazing how many people think that VED pays for the roads. It is also quite amazing how many people call it RFL, which was scrapped in 1961.

Even now, fifty years later, there are car dealers where the order/invoice still refers to Road Fund Licence.

If you are really old (certainly you'd need to be older than me) I could understand it, but even kids call it RFL and think it's for the roads

[neilski]

Caulkhead said:

neilski said:

Caulkhead said:

The correct answer is to tick both boxes, but it won't let you do that.

There's a character limit for polls otherwise I'd like to have put:

"The revenue from the "Road Tax" disc in my car is hypothecated to pay for roads"

but it won't let me do that so you'll just have to pretend.

Or you could add a third option entitled 'Both of the above' which would be the correct answer.

It's more a question on "how do you think roads are funded?" rather than how they're actually funded. I'm just trying to gauge the level of awareness on PH, given the number of arguements there are on this subject.

I'm actually surprised by the result so far, I thought it would be closer to 50:50.

[neilski]

Sorry, missed this earlier.

otolith said:

A group of friends sit down to eat in a restaurant. Some want wine, others intend to drink water. They agree to split the food bill equally but that those who want wine should pay extra to cover the cost. At the end of the meal, they all put their money in a big pile in the middle of the table, and the waiter takes it away.

How was the wine funded?

• By the people who paid extra for wine

• By everyone, since all the money went into one big pot and then got mixed in with the rest of the money in the cash register and paid into the bank with all the other takings

I suppose it all depends on whether the restaurant sold the wine for a profit or a loss.

• If it cost the restaurant less to buy the wine than they received in revenue for it it almost certainly would have been paid for by those who paid extra to have wine.

• If, on the other hand the restaurant spent more on the wine than the extra money they received from those that drank it then it would have been subsidised by the other diners at the table even though they didn't have any.

Would the second option be fair on the non-drinkers?

[4Q]