RE: ABD on Green Stuff
Tuesday 6th August 2002
ABD on Green Stuff
Are the Govt to target 'Gas Guzzlers' next?
Discussion
quote:
"The current road tax scheme is based on a sham anyway. 97% of global carbon dioxide emissions is from natural sources, and of the remaining 3%, only one-seventh is from cars. That's 0.4% of the total. If all cars on the planet disappeared overnight, it would be next to impossible to measure any change in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The maximum drop would be 0.00015% by volume, and in reality it would be less. Of course, there would be no impact on climate change whatsoever."
Right, where's there a tree hugging lentil basher I can quote this lot to ! .... {sigh} ... never one around when you need one ....
) am I a gas guzzler as well? I think this could be a bit of a knee-jerk response by the tax grabbers, to the numbers of motorists (myself included) now runnning 'commercial' vehicles as company cars.
Cars such as Land Rover Discovery/Defender vans, Mitsubishi Shogun vans, and the proliferation of double-cab (i.e. 4 door) pick-ups are all in the 500 quid a year, flat rate tax bracket, rather than the normal, punitive emissions based, benefit in kind scale.
Cars such as Land Rover Discovery/Defender vans, Mitsubishi Shogun vans, and the proliferation of double-cab (i.e. 4 door) pick-ups are all in the 500 quid a year, flat rate tax bracket, rather than the normal, punitive emissions based, benefit in kind scale.
Just another example of the thieving bastards at work (meddling).
How long before a TVR tax, Porsche Tax etc......?
How long before Mr Green Eye Traffic Warden strolls up to you in your gleaming Bentley and advises you he's charging you with smiling whilst driving and thus offending the soap dodging lentil munching druggy dropout scrote sat on the kerb.?
About 3 years I reckon.
DAZ
>> Edited by Dazren on Friday 9th August 13:43
How long before a TVR tax, Porsche Tax etc......?
How long before Mr Green Eye Traffic Warden strolls up to you in your gleaming Bentley and advises you he's charging you with smiling whilst driving and thus offending the soap dodging lentil munching druggy dropout scrote sat on the kerb.?
About 3 years I reckon.
DAZ
>> Edited by Dazren on Friday 9th August 13:43
You can argue about the merits, or lack thereof, of a trying to make less efficient vehicle owners pay increasingly high rates of tax ... but the method they propose is silly. Who cares if it is a 4X4?? The question is how fuel efficient it is.
Whether your vehicle is a scooter, a 4X4 or a hurse the important thing from an efficiency standpoint is the distance you can go on a gallon of fuel.
So, define a standard measue of "mpg".
A crude tax might use this mpg measure as the basis for road tax. This is a step in the right direction, but is unfair because it doesn't reflect how much the car is actually used.
Assuming you wanted to screw money out of the motorist, what you really want to do is charge people an increasing rate of fuel tax that goes up with increasingly inefficient fuel consumption.
One fairly easy way of doing it would be to look at the mileage covered between MOT certification and the car's official mpg and levy a tax on the estimated actual fuel consumption. The Ministry of Transport already has the data needed to do this. Wouldn't be particularly hard to administer either.
Whether your vehicle is a scooter, a 4X4 or a hurse the important thing from an efficiency standpoint is the distance you can go on a gallon of fuel.
So, define a standard measue of "mpg".
A crude tax might use this mpg measure as the basis for road tax. This is a step in the right direction, but is unfair because it doesn't reflect how much the car is actually used.
Assuming you wanted to screw money out of the motorist, what you really want to do is charge people an increasing rate of fuel tax that goes up with increasingly inefficient fuel consumption.
One fairly easy way of doing it would be to look at the mileage covered between MOT certification and the car's official mpg and levy a tax on the estimated actual fuel consumption. The Ministry of Transport already has the data needed to do this. Wouldn't be particularly hard to administer either.
The problem is that they may say they'll put the tax on fuel to make it fairer, which may be a reasonable argument, but does that mean they'll do away with taxing company cars and road fund license - I doubt it. "New" ways of taxing are often introduced, but instead of replacing the supposedly unfair ways they just add to them - AAARRRGHHHH.
I have a company car (gas guzzling 4x4) an old Lotus and 2 motorbikes. I've as yet not found any way of using them all at once, but I pay £XXXXXX tax on each one. I pay a little more on petrol if all the other taxes are dropped.
I think the motoring organisations and interested parties should arrange a no car week, where no-one uses thier car for anything. Then the goverment could demonstrate fully the alternatives to the menace that is the motorist
I have a company car (gas guzzling 4x4) an old Lotus and 2 motorbikes. I've as yet not found any way of using them all at once, but I pay £XXXXXX tax on each one. I pay a little more on petrol if all the other taxes are dropped.
I think the motoring organisations and interested parties should arrange a no car week, where no-one uses thier car for anything. Then the goverment could demonstrate fully the alternatives to the menace that is the motorist
quote:
I think the motoring organisations and interested parties should arrange a no car week, where no-one uses thier car for anything. Then the goverment could demonstrate fully the alternatives to the menace that is the motorist
That is a very very good idea, and would be far more effective than that "don't buy any petrol day" some time back. Public transport would be in utter, utter chaos - surely the message might start getting through then?
quote:
How do 'they' decide what counts as a 'gas guzzling 4wd'? Does a mostly-2wd Freelander? an Impreza WRX, Subaru Outback or the Volvo and Audi jacked-up estates? Will manufacturers bring out tax-busting 2wd versions of their SUV's?
hehe - That'll count my Subaru Justy (10 yr old, 1.2litre) as a monster truck then????
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