Why is it so difficult to bring in 'pay as you go' through the petrol/diesel pumps and do away with road tax? We only do around 6000 miles a year and, even when I was working, rarely over 10,000! Surely this would be a fairer system. Or do you all disagree?
Pay as you go!
- Thread starter AnnM1
- Start date
Hi Ann
Agree with you absolutely! We are in much the same situation.I wonder what the big haulage companies and companies running car fleets for their employees would think about it though!
Personally I think road tolls work well.
Helen
Agree with you absolutely! We are in much the same situation.I wonder what the big haulage companies and companies running car fleets for their employees would think about it though!
Personally I think road tolls work well.
Helen
- Mar 14, 2005
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Hello Ann,
I agree with the idea of abolishing road tax in favour of 'pay as go' To a large extent we already do because of the duty on road fuel, so the mechanism is already there. Whilst it would be nice to think that road fund tax was exclusively used to improve the roads, In practice all money collected by the exchequer is put into one big pot and distributed how the government of the day sees fit.
If road fund tax were abolished and to achieve roughly the same revenue from the average motorist we would need to have an increase of about 10p per litre.
I do think that using fuel to collect road fund tax makes a lot of sense, mainly because no one can easily avoid paying it!- even visiting foreign motorists.
It has other proportional benefits as well:
basically the more fuel you use the more you pay, You will use more fuel when:
You dive further,
You have a thirsty vehicle
You tow a trailer
you drive harder and faster
Conversely, those who choose to be frugal will pay proportionally less. It all seems very fair.
The DVLA would still have a role to play in keeping the vehicle registrations, but the effort they currently use in chasing tax dodgers could be put to better use in chasing MOT & insurance dodgers. This would help to improve the general safety of road vehicles.
I suspect that successive have chosen not to pursue this eminently sensible proposal because, they can raise a lot of different taxes by a little more easily than a little by a lot.
I agree with the idea of abolishing road tax in favour of 'pay as go' To a large extent we already do because of the duty on road fuel, so the mechanism is already there. Whilst it would be nice to think that road fund tax was exclusively used to improve the roads, In practice all money collected by the exchequer is put into one big pot and distributed how the government of the day sees fit.
If road fund tax were abolished and to achieve roughly the same revenue from the average motorist we would need to have an increase of about 10p per litre.
I do think that using fuel to collect road fund tax makes a lot of sense, mainly because no one can easily avoid paying it!- even visiting foreign motorists.
It has other proportional benefits as well:
basically the more fuel you use the more you pay, You will use more fuel when:
You dive further,
You have a thirsty vehicle
You tow a trailer
you drive harder and faster
Conversely, those who choose to be frugal will pay proportionally less. It all seems very fair.
The DVLA would still have a role to play in keeping the vehicle registrations, but the effort they currently use in chasing tax dodgers could be put to better use in chasing MOT & insurance dodgers. This would help to improve the general safety of road vehicles.
I suspect that successive have chosen not to pursue this eminently sensible proposal because, they can raise a lot of different taxes by a little more easily than a little by a lot.
We already have "pay-as-you-go"
With very high fuel duty, the taxation cost of motoring closely relates to the distance driven and the size of the vehicle.
At current rates, a solo motorist doing 12,000 miles/year at 40mpg will pay about
With very high fuel duty, the taxation cost of motoring closely relates to the distance driven and the size of the vehicle.
At current rates, a solo motorist doing 12,000 miles/year at 40mpg will pay about
I agree with some of your points, RogerL. However, all the 'road tax' dodgers would the also have to fork out. The money saved on the so-called 'chasing' game could then be ploughed back into our road system.
By the way - roads in our area are in a disgusting state with potholes and deep cracks. So, where is the argument that the road vehicle licence is being spent on our road network.
By the way - roads in our area are in a disgusting state with potholes and deep cracks. So, where is the argument that the road vehicle licence is being spent on our road network.
In principal it sounds like a good idea. Then you have to remember that every single item in our homes including the food we eat got into the shops by road haulage. Any additional fuel cost would inevitably have to be passed onto the general public. Any saving you may have made through not paying road tax will soon be eroded away.
Taxation and public spending are two totally different things. In most years the two amounts don't even equal each other although obviously they should.
Road fund licence, vehicle excise duty, call it what you will has never been used to fund the road network although that was the original justification when it was introduced between the two World Wars.
VED is just a tax, if we don't pay one way they'll get us another way - unless you want to abolish the NHS or state education!
As you only do 6000 miles a year, think of all that fuel duty you're NOT paying - the rest of us are envious.
Road fund licence, vehicle excise duty, call it what you will has never been used to fund the road network although that was the original justification when it was introduced between the two World Wars.
VED is just a tax, if we don't pay one way they'll get us another way - unless you want to abolish the NHS or state education!
As you only do 6000 miles a year, think of all that fuel duty you're NOT paying - the rest of us are envious.
No, no,no,no,no I don't pay road tax on my classic as it is exempt, it's the only way I can get one over on the powers that be. Mind you I do pay
I guess it wont matter soon! If they get this technology up and working ie the "Spy in the Sky" the'll know where we are at all times and how many miles we did!There was a suggestion of
If they introduce road pricing, the back roads will be chaos.
All the caravanners and HGVs will be struggling on narrow unclassifieds to avoid the "spy-in-the-sky".
All the caravanners and HGVs will be struggling on narrow unclassifieds to avoid the "spy-in-the-sky".
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