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Have your say on proposed changes to Vehicle Excise Duty (Road Tax)
Published 01 February 2021
The Government is consulting on proposals to change the way that Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) - also known as Road Tax - is calculated.
Have your say on the potential changes by taking part in the HonestJohn.co.uk Vehicle Excise Duty (Road Tax) Survey.
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Edward Johnston on 19 January 2021
Nothing to addon 20 January 2021
All these houses which have multiple cares per house hold especially the ones which are parking on the walkways should be made to pay a fine or be made to pay a heavy road tax fee .some times you have to walk on the road to get past especially if you have a prom .cars are parking on pathetic and should not be tolerated.B Kowal on 21 January 2021
What kind of car you have is irrelevant, it's how much you use it that matters; a gas guzzler sitting on your drive is non-polluting! A combination of miles driven and class of car would seem a fair solution.barrie crowther on 26 January 2021
How would the VED know how many miles you have driven, a software system in new cars could be done but older cars too much faff!.
999pez on 9 February 2021
Insurance black boxes take 5 minutes to fit. My daughter had to have one after she passed her test. It knows where you've been, what time, how fast. Easy solution if they wanted to do it.
Derreck on 21 January 2021
If you have a vehicle that gets 50 mph then the chances are it is small & light & causes little damage to road surfaces, conversely if your car only does 20 mph then it is probably big, heavy & more liable to cause damage/wear to a highway.In either instance a tax on fuel alone seems the fairest method of raising revenue so as those that use our roads the most pay proportionally.
Ima Poster on 21 January 2021
Pleased to see a sensible response. Fuel Duty needs to be applied on the fuel (electricity) used to charge EVs, just as it is on petrol and diesel.
Damage1_1 on 26 January 2021
Exactly. Why do electric car users think their "fuel" is free. Think what makes that "fuel".
Plus the majority of the batteries have flown more miles than Donald Trump.
VINCENT MILLARD on 9 February 2021
Actually if you do the research, you will find that, we all pay Fuel duty on Electricity and we are moving ever closer to renewable energy sources!
As for the Batteries, they have a second life after being used in EVs, they are used in Solar Farms and Domestic Solar installations, as this doesn't need as much Storage capacity!
Oh and the old Batteries are Shipped by Sea and via the Trans Siberian Railway, which is Electric. The Method of Shipping by Sea is obviously the best as you can stuff a lot more Containers on one Ship with one Admittedly Diesel Engine!
The UK are at the forefront of New Battery Tech and the Factories are being built right now here in good old Blighty and The New Batt Tech is ready!
Mind you I prefer Hydrogen, much friendlier! And proven to be Safer than Petrol!
barrie crowther on 26 January 2021
If drivers are taxed on electricity the wide boys will be selling charging units deducting the tax at source!
madf on 25 January 2021
As all cars can do 50mph, your post is meaningless.
VINCENT MILLARD on 26 January 2021
Actually, I have a fairly Large Car that does 60+ to the Gallon and is a low polluter!
So not all larger Cars use more fuel and cause more Pollution, indeed a Small engine car in the wrong situation i.e. Hilly District, will pollute more because it has to be driven in lower gears and at higher revs, thus using more Fuel.
barrie crowther on 26 January 2021
Not with these new engines that are zero taxed now!
David Butcher on 21 January 2021
I certainly agree that the duty on fossil fuel could be increased, but only if a corresponding duty could be applied to the electric supply when charging an EV. Failing that, a mileage charge be introduced. It is patently wrong that an EV attracts no VED as they use the roads needing the same maintenance and policing etc as when driven by fossil fueled vehicles.David Butcher
VINCENT MILLARD on 26 January 2021
I agree in general, so Pay per Mile is the best way, just make sure the Tech cant be messed with!
barrie crowther on 26 January 2021
The reason electric vehicles are zero taxed is to get drivers to buy them as they are non polluting at street level. The State has an uphill battle as they are so expensive in the first place even though they are subsidised!
John Rawstrone on 21 January 2021
Again it’s so nice to see a sensible response.Re: Fuel Duty needs to be applied on the fuel (electricity) used to charge EVs, just as it is on petrol and diesel. This is the fairest way to make every vehicle road user pay a part in looking after our countries infrastructure (which would include all vehicles from other countries using our roads and the users who manage to get away without paying anything) it’s time to make the system fairer for all.
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VINCENT MILLARD on 9 February 2021
You do know that most EVs can be plugged into the Domestic supply don't you?
How would you Police that? I've been waiting 2 Years for a Smart Meter, so that's not going to work!
Keith Gilbert on 21 January 2021
Is it not time to make electric/hybrid owners pay their fair share in road tax? I understand that the Gov are trying to entice us to move over to cleaner forms of travel but the good majority of us are unable to afford new cars every few years & tend to stick with older vehicles. They also use the roads, contributing to the wear & tear but don't pay anything near what we pay. Surely if they were made to pay their fair share of road tax, the Gov coffers would get a boost.
I'm sorry but the current method makes no sense.
Edited by Keith Gilbert on 21/01/2021 at 23:54
Eric Haigh on 22 January 2021
Charge 5p per mile driven with a 10p refund for every pothole hit. Just as buying a TV licence doesn't guarantee any decent programmes then VED is just another form of general taxation without obligation. Petrol engines are the cleanest they've ever been. Higher energy usage / wastage through EV / hybrid production and recycling outweighs any perceived green benefits. Leccy boys need to pay for generation and distribution themselves and not be subsidised by clean efficient petrol engine users. The whole equation is skewed for political purposes. The EU has over 300 coal and nasty lignite fired power stations. 30% of Germany's energy (84 power stations) is generated from dirty and inefficient coal; they're opening more (with EU funding) and decommissioning its nuclear plants. China has more than 250 GW of coal / lignite fired power stations under development. That's more than the entire USA coal fired power generation which itself generates 25% of US energy needs. Cosmetic fiddling with VED to the disadvantage of clean petrol engine users is not going to make a scrap of difference to the real problem.madf on 25 January 2021
What has the EU got to do with the UK Excise system?
Answer: nothing.
Edited by madf on 25/01/2021 at 13:21
StevieB59 on 26 January 2021
Diesel also cleaner than it has ever been - and cleaner in most respects than petrol!
barrie crowther on 26 January 2021
Diesel in new cars has so many non polluting systems they break down more often and even destroy their engines, BMW has lots of problems.
POB123 on 25 January 2021
I assume Derreck is referring to miles per gallon (mpg) rather than miles per hour (mph)?Alan Goss on 25 January 2021
There needs to be some accountability for electric vehicles. The cradle to grave pollution is not as clean as they make out when you include the battery materials and the power generation, plus the tyre and brake wear pollution. The tax needs to be applied as a base level for all vehicles and then a fuel tax (power and oil based) so that the more miles driven the higher the tax paid.Alternatively, it could be one tax for simplicity applied to all fuel types (power and oil based) with no VED. The fuel cost would be higher but it would be a pay as you drive system and those doing a higher mileage would pay more tax. This would save a lot of admin cost. The downside is another check on MOT/roadworthiness and insurance would be required as this is currently effectively done when buying VED,
Maurice Callister on 25 January 2021
Why should the tax on petrol and diesel be increased to make up the shortfall on people switching to electric cars? An equivalent amount of tax must be introduced on the electricity used to charge electric cars. In addition, the extra weight of electric vehicles will cause quicker deterioration of our roads and therefore the tax on Ev’s should be more than that on lighter petrol or diesel vehicles.husband on 26 January 2021
The desruction caused in junglescaused by battery manufacturers is a horror story. In the uk it is estimated another three power stations will be required. What arling on pavemnt has to do with road tax is a mystery it is an offence which local authorities are supposed to enforce. I can only assume people critisizng 2 car families have no mortgage to pay as my wife and i need cars for work and both park on my properties. My rod tax is £20 per yr as my car is efficient petrol i would pay more. Cars doing small mileage pollute moreper mile as they dont get to temperature again i do 30k a year i couldnt afford the tax and you will lose as my job is critical. Low mileage hire or get a bus or taxi people are obsessed with ownership. A luxury society cannot afford now.Eric Haigh on 27 January 2021
By all means tell the Gov where they're going wrong but it must be nice living in your world. £20 pa for 30,000 miles and you say people doing low mileage pollute more than high milers?? You do nearly four times the average annual mileage yet pay one twentieth of the average VED. For 26,000 of your annual miles my car is parked up going nowhere and creating zero emissions. I'm not the only one paying twenty times as much VED as you so don't come the holier than thou bit when you don't pay your fair whack into the kitty!
Your lofty assumptions are as way out as your conclusions. Hire a car when needed, get a bus or a taxi? You should try living out in the countryside where car ownership is neither an obsession nor a luxury. It's the only viable form of transport so you lost me on that one.
Don't you own your cars? PCL on your mileage must be a fortune. You could always get a nice homely job near your wife's then you'd only need one car and pollute even less and I could live without a critical worker telling me that I'd lose out if you had to pay your fair share.
Keith Kilbane on 26 January 2021
Is the drive for all-electric vehicles achievable? Or even an honest policy? It seems to address cars/light vehicles only. Why? Is this because the transport industry has powerful representation, influencing politicians to leave it alone, whilst private individuals seem (almost) voiceless?How could the policy be dishonest? Consider all the diesel and petrol sold via fuel station forecourts, then convert that to the equivalent Megawatt hours of electricity. Now add that figure to the UK’s total demand for electricity. Is the UK’s generating capacity able to deliver that amount? I suspect the answer is “Nowhere near achieving it.” Please note – the energy needs of our transport system (public transport and logistics infrastructure) do not use public fuel stations but are largely satisfied via diesel fuel supplied in bulk to their own facilities, so are not included in this example. When they are included, the energy shortfall is even greater.
To gain trust in the achievability of its policy, the government needs to answer the following questions with quantified data:
1. What is the total energy load, converted to equivalent electricity demand, of the combined diesel & petrol sales per annum?
2. What is the total capacity of the UK’s generating system at present?
3. What is the total current load on the UK’s generating system at present?
4. What reliable, predictable and non-intermittent capacity exists to satisfy the difference represented by the answer to question 1?
5. How will the shortfall be satisfied – and when?
Until all this is addressed, there is insufficient information for us to comment in this consultation. We should use the consultation process to extract answers – and secure adequate facilities for those answers to inform our response in the consultation.
Keith Kilbane on 26 January 2021
Is the drive for all-electric vehicles achievable? Or even an honest policy? It seems to address cars/light vehicles only. Why? Is this because the transport industry has powerful representation, influencing politicians to leave it alone, whilst private individuals seem (almost) voiceless?How could the policy be dishonest? Consider all the diesel and petrol sold via fuel station forecourts, then convert that to the equivalent Megawatt hours of electricity. Now add that figure to the UK’s total demand for electricity. Is the UK’s generating capacity able to deliver that amount? I suspect the answer is “Nowhere near achieving it.” Please note – the energy needs of our transport system (public transport and logistics infrastructure) do not use public fuel stations but are largely satisfied via diesel fuel supplied in bulk to their own facilities, so are not included in this example. When they are included, the energy shortfall is even greater.
To gain trust in the achievability of its policy, the government needs to answer the following questions with quantified data:
1. What is the total energy load, converted to equivalent electricity demand, of the combined diesel & petrol sales per annum?
2. What is the total capacity of the UK’s generating system at present?
3. What is the total current load on the UK’s generating system at present?
4. What reliable, predictable and non-intermittent capacity exists to satisfy the difference represented by the answer to question 1?
5. How will the shortfall be satisfied – and when?
Until all this is addressed, there is insufficient information for us to comment in this consultation. We should use the consultation process to extract answers – and secure adequate facilities for those answers to inform our response in the consultation.
Teaboy on 26 January 2021
Implement the MARNES acronym. Mileage---Applied----Road---Net--- Environmental---StrikeThere is the technology available to implement this, all road vehicles would have to be fitted with motion sensors and trackers to make this work. All classes could have their own pay per mile for the impact they make on the road surface. ie a moped of less than 100kg net weight would be one class then in 100kg net weight increments up to 1ton. Then in 500kg net weight increments up to 10tonnes for private vehicles. Vans/work vehicles and goods vehicles could be 10tonnes and above would cover all flat bed HGV's. Articulated vehicles could be based on the weight of the tractor unit This would cover all road users, and if anyone is caught using a vehicle more than 1 mile away from its registered address without an active tracker , then it would be sized and crushed.
Ron Stafford on 26 January 2021
Cyclists use the roads (and pavements) but pay no tax, or insurance. Why are they not obliged to register their cycles and pay a fee as other road using vehicles are? Electric cars are also treated differently. Even if every car in the UK magically changed to electric tomorrow the national grid would be incapable of supporting the demand so battery driven cars are not the answer. Everyone who uses the road system should be paying for it, not just ICE users.
Edited by Ron Stafford on 26/01/2021 at 10:53
Daybreak Girl on 26 January 2021
I only have to pay £20 per year and I like that as I only do about 4000 miles a year but in order for the system to be fair if it were charged on fuel then even the tax dodgers would have to pay. The only downside I see is there would be a mass increase in the thugs and thieves syphoning off people's fuel from there parked cars to avoid paying.GTD 184 on 26 January 2021
I believe in taxing vehicles based on new cost price.Four bands of tax classification.
Band 1 Vehicles priced up to £25k = £150.00
Band 2 Vehicles priced £25k to £50k = £200.00
Band 3 Vehicles priced £50k to £80k = £250.00
Band 4 Vehicles over £80k to be taxed at double the price of band 3 = £500.00
All EV's regardless of price should be taxed at £150.00
John DVH on 26 January 2021
Taxing by road use (mileage) would be much fairer.I only drove just over 1,000 miles last year but still paid £565 in Tax!
Derek Roberts on 30 January 2021
Everyone in society relies on roads to some degree , be it for having goods delivered to their home or local shops. Not having a car should not exempt all from paying a share . Not going to be popular but ...maybe a mix of tax on profit made delivering goods and a general tax increase to be used for improvement/ maintenance of all transport infrastructure is the way to go.Warning on 1 February 2021
Why not a carbon quota?. If someone drives 50,000 miles per year, then let them pay for it. I barely drive 5,000 miles a year, yet I pay more, then someone driving that in a TeslaWarning on 1 February 2021
My council is charging me to park outside my home. People pay according to the vehicle emissions. Except the council has n't put up any new charging points. Even, the bloke bringing the work van homes, has to pay according to engine size.Only the richer folks with driveways can charge their cars at home.
They want it both ways. Charge to drive a car (pollute) and then chare to park a car.
Electric cars are expensive to buy (compared to regular fuel). Most on the used market are diesels.
My neighbour does n't own a car, but had 50 deliveries. Not environmentally friendly.
Now more people working from home, they want to find more ways to generate tax, which they are missing out from fuel duty.
Someone flying to Barbados for leisure, pays £0.00 in fuel duty, but someone going to work will be paying 80pence per litre alone in tax.
999pez on 9 February 2021
Someone flying to Barbados for leisure, pays £0.00 in fuel duty? I presume you haven't been on holiday for a very long time if you haven't heard of air passenger duty.
Nicholas Lngrishe on 2 February 2021
Abolish road tax - expensive to administer and often not paid. Increase duty on fuel; simple really, the more you use, the more you pay. Electric cars require a seperate approach.
Edited by Nicholas Lngrishe on 02/02/2021 at 09:29
Allan Brooks on 8 February 2021
Surely any new tax should be a combination of size of vehicle, number of miles covered per year and amount of pollutants from the exhaust and not on the cost of the vehicle. This takes into account the wear of the roads and gases pushed into the atmosphere.peter1947 on 8 February 2021
As we have a campervan and spend most of the year in mainland Europe.So,we are dead set against pay-per-mile. I think every vehicle on the road should pay the same including electric cars.Add a comment