November 12, 2008

The Environmental Transport Association (ETA), have welcomed the potential that the unpopular retrospective enforcement of the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), rises may no longer be enforced. 

The charges unveiled in the last budget meant that all cars on the road since March 2001 would suffer with from the VED rises that were designed to make drivers choose greener cars.  The changes saw huge rises in VED charges for bigger, less efficient cars, and has seen their resale values plummet.  It now appears likely that next week’s Pre-Budget Report will announce that the retrospective emissions-based tax will be postponed, although timeframes are not detailed.

Director at the ETA, Andrew Davis said: “Higher-polluting cars should face some form of punitive taxation, but it is vital that green taxes are seen as well thought through and fair – it’s questionable whether such a sharply-increased retrospective tax will ever be seen in that way.”
Given the current collapse in stock prices, house values and availability of cheap credit, the last thing the UK consumer needed to contend with is the value of their cars skydiving too.  With the falls in car sales gathering pace it makes good sense to try every measure available to try and keep prices up and the market buoyant.

The ETA believes that an equitable alternative to road tax would be national road user charging, for not only would such a system cut congestion and thereby help reduce emissions, it would save motorists money as there would no longer be any need for fuel duty or vehicle excise duty; most roads, most of the time, have no congestion, so many people would pay less.

Leave a comment

Type into the box below