Road Tax increase ? again is this true ?

[ivanhoe]

6.7% during my 14 month ownership.

[snapdragon]

K** 201-225 £315 =£325 +£10
L 226-255 £540 =£555 +£15

Mine would be £555 if a couple of months newer but is £325 - ridiculous that these are bands and have punitive jumps for no reason. They should just make it the gCO2/km *1.5 = £

[HPsauce]

It was to avoid retrospective massive increases on owners of older cars.

[Regulus]

Originally Posted by snapdragon

They should just make it the gCO2/km *1.5 = £

In fact, if it's only the CO2 that is the reason for the tax, it certainly isn't based on any scientific reality.
Without CO2 in the atmosphere, there would be no life on earth as we know it.
Plants need the CO2 to extract the Carbon (C) by the photosynthesis.
Anyone who has watched the Battlestar Galactica series knows that life on earth is based on Carbon. The fictional Cylons were based on silicon instead.

In any case. The fact is that we should be grateful that we are no longer living in the little ice-age Another fact is that in the 70's there was a worry we might head back into another ice-age. We'll find out as time goes by.

It is also recommended for green houses to add CO2 to help the plants grow, because the air doesn't contain high enough levels! A level between 800-1200ppm is recommended. And doesn't plants thrive in "warmer" climate???

Instead of being taxed, you should be paid for helping the earth be greener and produce more

[sarg]

Originally Posted by snapdragon

They should just make it the gCO2/km *1.5 = £

They should just scrap it and add something on to the price of a litre of fuel anr/or a unit of electricity

[steamship]

Originally Posted by sarg

They should just scrap it and add something on to the price of a litre of fuel anr/or a unit of electricity

Swings and roundabouts for people, depending on the mileage they do.

e.g. I have a '08 S8 which has the £535 tax rate, and spends most of the time just sitting there (last two trips were in August and October, totalling around 200 miles), so would be all for adding it to the cost of fuel. I also have a '04 A8 with the £305 tax rate, and have done just over 3,000 mile in six months, so again, would opt to add the cost to fuel. It's when you have people who drive 10k, 20k or even more miles per year, that the idea of adding the cost to fuel isn't such a good idea.

I also have the same thoughts towards car insurance, where I'd like to have car insurance for when I actually use the car, not while it's parked up. There should be some form of two-tier insurance where the first part covers you for the car sitting around in your driveway or garage all year, and the second part that covers you for actual driving, and could be activated/paid as and when required, say for a minimum 7 day period.

[ainarssems]

There is such insurance https://www.bymiles.co.uk/
I have had a look , it's about £150 per year + 3p/ mile

[steamship]

Originally Posted by ainarssems

There is such insurance https://www.bymiles.co.uk/
I have had a look , it's about £150 per year + 3p/ mile

Cheers. Will look into it.

UPDATE: Thought it sounded familiar. Turns out it's not available in Northern Ireland!

[sarg]

Originally Posted by steamship

Swings and roundabouts for people, depending on the mileage they do.

e.g. I have a '08 S8 which has the £535 tax rate, and spends most of the time just sitting there (last two trips were in August and October, totalling around 200 miles), so would be all for adding it to the cost of fuel. I also have a '04 A8 with the £305 tax rate, and have done just over 3,000 mile in six months, so again, would opt to add the cost to fuel. It's when you have people who drive 10k, 20k or even more miles per year, that the idea of adding the cost to fuel isn't such a good idea.

Using your example you have paid 26.25 pence per mile just for road tax for your two cars, that hardly seems fair does it? For my one car doing 18k per year, I am paying 2.5 pence per mile, how is it fair that you are paying 10x as much as me, per mile, to use the same roads?

I also have the same thoughts towards car insurance, where I'd like to have car insurance for when I actually use the car, not while it's parked up. There should be some form of two-tier insurance where the first part covers you for the car sitting around in your driveway or garage all year, and the second part that covers you for actual driving, and could be activated/paid as and when required, say for a minimum 7 day period.

Doesn't really matter how many miles you do, adding to the cost of fuel is fairer for all. I'm a higher mileage driver and would welcome it. If I am doing more miles then of course I should be contributing more to the cost of the roads I use. Instead I have to pay £450 per year siply because the list price of my car new was more than £40,000. That is neither just nor fair, but easier for me to justify to myself than somebody only clocking up a few miles.

To a small extent, it could also further encourage people to buy more economical cars, or consider alternative fuel types, and potentially adjust their driving style too, slowing down a little on motorways for example. I find if I drive at 70mph on the motorway rather than 80mph, my fuel consumption improves by about 15-20%.

And for two car owners it's even better - I can only drive one car at a time, so paying full whack tax on two cars isn't justified.

As for insurance, almost all policies these days are costed on how many miles you declare you will be driving, so this is already part of the price of insurance.

[briang9]

Originally Posted by steamship

Cheers. Will look into it.

UPDATE: Thought it sounded familiar. Turns out it's not available in Northern Ireland!

Unable to quote me on both my cars too, something about being incompatible with their "Miles Tracker" whatever that might be