Road tax grumble
Author
Discussion

cml

Original Poster:

727 posts

290 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
Saw an advert for a 180PS twin-turbo Saab which boasts zero road tax.

Not fair! Using CO2 emissions as the sole factor for calculating road tax has turned it from a road tax into a C02 tax. This is a fundamental change, it is basically a new tax. Any idea that it is used to pay for roads is gone. Don't see why some company car diesel should bomb around on twin-turbo power belching black smoke for free when my megre millage in a petrol car costs me so much. If lowering pollution is the aim how about factoring all the soot and other stuff too? Plus using fixed bands on a test with questionable accuracy will only lead to cars being made for the test, not actual use. Pah.

end grumble

Edited by cml on Monday 28th February 02:48

cml

Original Poster:

727 posts

290 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
So the money goes into the big pot rather than paying for roads? Should have guessed. It's a tax on car ownership then? Makes more sense. Formulated to push us to lower C02 cars - however - can't see why a 180PS (178bhp) car should come out as zero rated. Also millage is more about pollution than some silly test result, therefore tax fuel - not that I want fuel to go up any more.

Yes I have just paid for another year and it has gone a fair bit, again.

Larry Dickman

3,762 posts

246 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
The tory's put fuel tax up in the 70's as a step to abolish road tax but didn't abolish it so you already pay it twice, once on the fuel & once on the disc. If they increase fuel tax to abolish vehicle excise duty they'll only do the same again & wont abolish it, they'll re-market it as something else so you'll be paying it three times. Is it a good idea to put ved on fuel again? No.

otolith

67,890 posts

232 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
It's not hypothecated to road maintenance, but then very few uk taxes are hypothecated - the fishing and TV licences are the only ones that spring to mind. People with a political axe to grind tend to make a bigger deal of this technicality than it really deserves - it always seems to me like arguing that a diner did not pay for his part of the bill because the money went into a heap in the middle of the table before it went to the cash register.

rash_decision

1,415 posts

205 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
I don't have a political axe to grind, but VED does pi55 me off big time! I don't quite get how it's all calculated!! How one car, same type, model etc can be so much more money by being a year younger! I pay £435 a year for my car, but due to the fact I work overseas, the car sees the road, maybe, for 3 months of the year. If I knew exactly when I was coming and going, sure I could SORN it, re-tax it etc, but it's not practical!

diddles

446 posts

227 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
A 180PS twin-turbo with boasts zero road tax..... whats to grumble about here? Id take 180PS (although maybe not diesel) and not have to pay any VED.

Unless the goverment changes the rules in regard to CO2 output, I reckon very, very few new cars will need to pay VED in 5 years time.

Which reminds me, it road tax time for my fossil fuel destroying V6 Merc. I hate VED.

cml

Original Poster:

727 posts

290 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
diddles said:
A 180PS twin-turbo with boasts zero road tax..... whats to grumble about here? Id take 180PS (although maybe not diesel) and not have to pay any VED.

Unless the goverment changes the rules in regard to CO2 output, I reckon very, very few new cars will need to pay VED in 5 years time.

Which reminds me, it road tax time for my fossil fuel destroying V6 Merc. I hate VED.
Well I guess I could complain that I don't run a 180PS zero tax car smile

Don't think a petrol car can manage it though, current system favours diesels, not a fan of the black smokers frown

If too many cars drop to lower bands... one suspects they will move the bands

Engineer1

10,486 posts

237 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
It's all they can do, hopefully in a more honest way than they did with the retroactive changes they made before. I'd be pissed off if my band C car suddenly ended up as high emissions because all the newer cars are group A.

Liquid Knight

15,754 posts

211 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
How many forrests are the DVLA planting with the revenue generated from they're Ozone Tax?

NONE!

De-register your car and don't add the the DVLAs £22,000,000 a year profits.

LuS1fer

43,420 posts

273 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
Buy yourself an imported American muscle car and pay £205.

Liquid Knight

15,754 posts

211 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
Better still a pre-72 V8 muscell car and pay nothing. wink

cml

Original Poster:

727 posts

290 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
Point of clarification - zero road tax applies to the first year - thought it was a bit generous! It's £30 after that! Pah. Never bought a newish car - some of them are £400+ a year - eek!

Rule of thumb:

Tax I pay = totally unfair, I am poor
Tax others pay = far too low, tax the rich!

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

274 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
Is anyone really still fretting about the cost of a tax disc when petrol costs £100 a tank?

cuprabob

19,241 posts

242 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
Ozzie Osmond said:
Is anyone really still fretting about the cost of a tax disc when petrol costs £100 a tank?
Well yes, but only because I could be buying another 4 - 5 tanks worth of fuel per year for the £495 I pay in VED every year (£425-car, £70-bike)

cml

Original Poster:

727 posts

290 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
Fair point, although it does depend on your millage and how much a dent the extra makes in any month - I do very few miles and the month my car tax is due I have little cash for much else. It all adds up.

ewenm

28,506 posts

273 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
Liquid Knight said:
Better still a pre-72 V8 muscle car and pay nothing. wink
yes

Shame it's off the road though frown

otolith

67,890 posts

232 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
swerni said:
otolith said:
It's not hypothecated to road maintenance, but then very few uk taxes are hypothecated - the fishing and TV licences are the only ones that spring to mind. People with a political axe to grind tend to make a bigger deal of this technicality than it really deserves - it always seems to me like arguing that a diner did not pay for his part of the bill because the money went into a heap in the middle of the table before it went to the cash register.
not true.

All local roads are maintenance comes out of your council tax.
It's only the motorway (Maybe A roads not sure) that come from central government.

ps no axe to grind here smile
Council tax only pays about a quarter of local authority funding.

Liquid Knight

15,754 posts

211 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
cml said:
Point of clarification - zero road tax applies to the first year - thought it was a bit generous! It's £30 after that! Pah. Never bought a newish car - some of them are £400+ a year - eek!

Rule of thumb:

Tax I pay = totally unfair, I am poor
Tax others pay = far too low, tax the rich!
Road Tax funds the DVLA and NOTHING ELSE!

£0.00 road tax for the first year?

That's 25% of the value of the car justified then. wink

A tax exempt classic will either not depreciate at all or go up in value. If you feel guilty about potholes, put the money you save from depreciation, normal insurance (compared to a classic policy), service costs (1971 Triumph Stag for example costs £150 for a full service at Rimmer Brothers compare that to the first service of your new BMW and save over £500) and give it to your council to fill them in. If you feel guilty about CO2 use the money you save to buy a load of trees.