DVLA and our road tax money

[ericvauxsuffolk]

Does anybody in the UK know where our road tax money is going or what it is being spent on.
I hope it is on roads and the like.

[Marf]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Excise_Duty

VED, which raised GB£5.63 billion in 2009,[2] is collected and enforced by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Vehicle tax was introduced in the 1888 budget and the current system of excise duty applying specifically to motor vehicles was introduced in 1920. This excise duty was ring-fenced for road construction and was paid directly into a special Road Fund from 1920 until 1937 after which it was treated as general taxation.[3] Even during this period the majority of the cost of road building and improvement came from general and local taxation due to the tax being too low for the upkeep of the roads.[4]

[Rostfritt]

I think all the road tax money was spent soon after it was abolished in 1937. I think the DVLA spends tax money on administering vehicles and driving licences, being the government department in charge of that.

[matthias73]

Rostfritt said:

I think all the road tax money was spent soon after it was abolished in 1937. I think the DVLA spends tax money on administering vehicles and driving licences, being the government department in charge of that.

Well we pay for driving lisences...

fk it, I'm moving my bank accounts to the cayman islands.

[paranoid airbag]

It goes into general taxation.

Councils are financially responsible for most of the roads in the uk, so talk to them if you think your local roads need work.

Personally I wish it would be abolished - so many better ways of getting the money if necessary.

[Rostfritt]

paranoid airbag said:

It goes into general taxation.

Councils are financially responsible for most of the roads in the uk, so talk to them if you think your local roads need work.

Personally I wish it would be abolished - so many better ways of getting the money if necessary.

The Highways Agency is responsible for major trunk roads and motorways.

A massive increase in fuel tax might be a better way, but as an owner of a pre '73 car I am strongly opposed.

'Road tax' was abolished so motorists didn't consider themselves exclusively entitled to use the road.

[Kickstart68]

Hi

Last figure I saw was about 4 years ago. The DVLA cost close to half a billion pounds a year to run.

All the best

Keith

[Zwolf]

Kickstart68 said:

The DVLA cost close to half a billion pounds a year to run.

Less than a tenth of what they raise in VED then?

Marf said:

VED, which raised GB£5.63 billion in 2009

[Keep it stiff]

And £27 billion is raised in fuel duty and of course there is VAT on top of that. The combined value of VED and fuel excise duty contributes about 6% of all tax raised in the UK.

[Rostfritt]

Keep it stiff said:

The combined value of VED and fuel excise duty contributes about 6% of all tax raised in the UK.

That is much lower than I thought. It is one of many taxes, there does not need to be a connection between how it is raised and used otherwise it would be a toll or charge.

[Kickstart68]

Hi

Think it is a bit higher than that.

OK, Wikipedia and a couple of years old:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_the_Unite...

That shows fuel duty and VED amounting to 9% of the total tax take.

Can add a bit more to that with insurance premium tax, VAT on fuel (including fuel duty), etc.

All the best

Keith

[Megaflow]

I'd happliy see VED added to fuel duty. I have a Westfield which I have to go through the SORN and re tax system every year which would be a started.

But, there can be no avoidance of VED if it is on fuel and we can then make a start of getting rid of the DVLA completely, what a cost saving that would be.

Driving licences can be moved to the passport office, maybe even combine your passport and licence as the percentage of people who haven't got both already must be tiny. And a self service computer system to deal with vehicle ownership changes. Thats got to cover 99.999999% of what the DVLA does.

There would need to be a small office somewhere to maitain the computer system and to deal with engine changes, colour changes, etc that the computer system can't deal with.