“Luxury” car tax rip-off
“Luxury” car tax rip-off
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Discussion

Boxster5

Original Poster:

1,268 posts

138 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
Probably one of the nastiest little taxes brought in by the present government. Fair enough, in 2017 £40k+ bought you a decent “luxury” car along the lines of BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar, Porsche etc etc.
However £40k these days applies to most high-spec mainstream models such as Kia, Cupra, Hyundai, VW as well as many others I suspect.
So we now have 4-5 year old luxury cars that get hit with this rip-off tax - we bought my wife’s 2019 BMW 4 series Gran Coupe in 2020 and sure enough we expected to be hit with it & fully accepted it. However after 3 years, the pain was too much and the car was sold for something that was below the £40k threshold.
Luckily my car was registered before 1st Apr 2017 so I feel quite smug driving it with the knowledge that others are getting hit. I have no intention of changing it anytime soon or if I do, I’ll make sure it is 4-5 years old (I can take the hit for 1 year but that’s it!).
I’m sure dealers must be suffering as a result of this and struggling to shift cars that have now crept into £40k plus territory. There are lots of pre-registered cars at dealers with substantial savings on new just to shift them so I suspect it’s hurting the car industry a lot.

swisstoni

24,061 posts

309 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
How much is it?

swamp

1,014 posts

219 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
swisstoni said:
How much is it?
About £2k over five years, with inflation.

Mandat

4,640 posts

268 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
Boxster5 said:
Probably one of the nastiest little taxes brought in by the present government. Fair enough, in 2017 £40k+ bought you a decent “luxury” car along the lines of BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar, Porsche etc etc.
However £40k these days applies to most high-spec mainstream models such as Kia, Cupra, Hyundai, VW as well as many others I suspect.
So we now have 4-5 year old luxury cars that get hit with this rip-off tax - we bought my wife’s 2019 BMW 4 series Gran Coupe in 2020 and sure enough we expected to be hit with it & fully accepted it. However after 3 years, the pain was too much and the car was sold for something that was below the £40k threshold.
Luckily my car was registered before 1st Apr 2017 so I feel quite smug driving it with the knowledge that others are getting hit. I have no intention of changing it anytime soon or if I do, I’ll make sure it is 4-5 years old (I can take the hit for 1 year but that’s it!).
I’m sure dealers must be suffering as a result of this and struggling to shift cars that have now crept into £40k plus territory. There are lots of pre-registered cars at dealers with substantial savings on new just to shift them so I suspect it’s hurting the car industry a lot.
Quite a rant.

Although you claim it is a nasty tax, it is totally avoidable & voluntary, so you don't have to pay it. Which is exactly what you have chosen to do, which begs the question, what is the point of your rant?

The £390 annual supplement equates to £32.50 per month, which is not a great amount to pay compared to all of the other costs associated with owning or running a newish & expensive car.

iphonedyou

10,419 posts

187 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
Boxster5 said:
However after 3 years, the pain was too much and the car was sold for something that was below the £40k threshold.
Seriously?

Fastdruid

9,398 posts

182 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
swisstoni said:
How much is it?
Less than a band L or M car and they don't get it dropped to £180 after 5 years!

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governmen...

Boxster5

Original Poster:

1,268 posts

138 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
swisstoni said:
How much is it?
It’s now an additional £390 per year on top of the “standard” fee (up from £355 last year).
Doesn’t sound too bad but I hate paying unnecessary taxes!

Dog Star

17,619 posts

198 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
How about the ludicrous £700 VED levied on stuff between 2006 and about 2012 (not sure on the end year), yet the same car from earlier attracts half the amount.

UK car tax (yes I know it’s not called that, bore off!) is a total mess. Don’t even get me started on motorbikes….

AMV93

957 posts

122 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
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Try buying something new that happens to be above some arbitrary CO2 threshold….3 of my cars cost me £2450 EACH for the first year VED, then there’s the pleasure of the next 5 years of the additional rate. It really stings when my mileage in them is so low - the vast majority of my mileage is in an EV.

Boxster5

Original Poster:

1,268 posts

138 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
iphonedyou said:
Boxster5 said:
However after 3 years, the pain was too much and the car was sold for something that was below the £40k threshold.
Seriously?
It was one of the reasons (my wife has joint problems so had difficulty accessing the BMW) but we made sure the next car was under the £40k threshold

iphonedyou

10,419 posts

187 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
Boxster5 said:
It was one of the reasons (my wife has joint problems so had difficulty accessing the BMW) but we made sure the next car was under the £40k threshold
Well that makes sense! smile

Jag_NE

3,339 posts

130 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
Dog Star said:
How about the ludicrous £700 VED levied on stuff between 2006 and about 2012 (not sure on the end year), yet the same car from earlier attracts half the amount.

UK car tax (yes I know it’s not called that, bore off!) is a total mess. Don’t even get me started on motorbikes….
The tax on bikes is an absolute piss take.

Trustmeimadoctor

14,369 posts

185 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
Hang on soooooo
This extra rate is paid for 5 years after this second time it's taxed so 7 years old! Didn't realise that thank god mind was registered 30/03/17!

cuprabob

19,738 posts

244 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
Trustmeimadoctor said:
Hang on soooooo
This extra rate is paid for 5 years after this second time it's taxed so 7 years old! Didn't realise that thank god mind was registered 30/03/17!
6 years old, IIRC. 5 years from the first time you have to renew the tax. The actual date is given on V5.

Boxster5

Original Poster:

1,268 posts

138 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
Dog Star said:
How about the ludicrous £700 VED levied on stuff between 2006 and about 2012 (not sure on the end year), yet the same car from earlier attracts half the amount.

UK car tax (yes I know it’s not called that, bore off!) is a total mess. Don’t even get me started on motorbikes….
Completely agree, the whole system is a shambles and needs a complete review. Of course it’ll be an upward trend. God help us if Labour happen to get in - it’s bad enough with the current government!

Trustmeimadoctor

14,369 posts

185 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all


You only have to pay this rate for 5 years (from the second time the vehicle is taxed).

So mind would have cost
Year 1
255
Year 2
180
570
Year 3
180
570
Year4
180
570
Year 5
180
570
Year 6
180
570


So 4005 in tax! fk me yet me 2 days earlier I've paid £185 in total!

Boxster5

Original Poster:

1,268 posts

138 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
Trustmeimadoctor said:
Hang on soooooo
This extra rate is paid for 5 years after this second time it's taxed so 7 years old! Didn't realise that thank god mind was registered 30/03/17!
Yep it’s an absolute joke. When we bought my wife’s 2019 BMW, we paid £28,500 when it was a year old (£48k new so a massive saving which was nice!). It’s one of the things many people don’t realise until it’s too late and you’ve bought the car as taxing it is the final stage normally.
You need a maths degree to work out what the amount will be - even car dealers struggle.
We were fully aware of what we were buying so didn’t come as a shock - just left a nasty taste in your mouth!
Sounds daft but I’d rather pay more for a car than have a stupidly high annual tax - don’t ask me why, I just hate paying tax!

IJWS15

2,235 posts

115 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
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You need to learn to manage your tax liability . .

e.g.
Stay under the £40k for cars
Maximise your pension contributions for income tax
if you are a Consultant (doctor) keep your hours down
If you drive keep your speed down etc ....

If people are stupid enough to put themselves in the position where they have to pay these taxes it is their own fault.

If these measures were not raising any revenue they would be dropped.

MustangGT

13,843 posts

310 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
Boxster5 said:
Yep it’s an absolute joke. When we bought my wife’s 2019 BMW, we paid £28,500 when it was a year old (£48k new so a massive saving which was nice!). It’s one of the things many people don’t realise until it’s too late and you’ve bought the car as taxing it is the final stage normally.
You need a maths degree to work out what the amount will be - even car dealers struggle.
We were fully aware of what we were buying so didn’t come as a shock - just left a nasty taste in your mouth!
Sounds daft but I’d rather pay more for a car than have a stupidly high annual tax - don’t ask me why, I just hate paying tax!
So you saved nearly £20k by buying at 1 year old, but are complaining about £2k in tax?

Just be happy you saved so much in the first place.

We have just bought a 3 year old Mercedes A35 AMG for my wife, we were pleasantly surprised it came in at £180 for the road tax.

Trustmeimadoctor

14,369 posts

185 months

Thursday 27th July 2023
quotequote all
IJWS15 said:
You need to learn to manage your tax liability . .

e.g.
Stay under the £40k for cars
Maximise your pension contributions for income tax
if you are a Consultant (doctor) keep your hours down
If you drive keep your speed down etc ....

If people are stupid enough to put themselves in the position where they have to pay these taxes it is their own fault.

If these measures were not raising any revenue they would be dropped.
As pointed out tho along of dross is now in this 40k+ bracket my luxury car is now about 20k more than when it was new 6 years ago it's the same car but now alot more expensive