Once again, HM Government snaps its latex glove

July 31, 2008 RJH

Update: I received a reply from Team Cameron. See end of post.

172.

That’s how many grams of C02 per kilometre my car emits. This means that as of next year, I will have to pay an annual car duty to the government of £205 (=$400). This car tax is nothing new, but the government is keen to peg vehicle duty to emissions and is further escalating the rates. The more your car guzzles gas, the more you pay.

In principle, I have nothing against green taxes, but this move by Brown has me wanting to burn some trees in revenge. Here’s the problem:

1. Tax my car all you want if you’re prepared to take that money and give me a good, cheap public transport system. Britain’s bus and train infrastructure is awful compared with the continent. Where does all this money go?

2. Failing that, perhaps Brown could show that green taxes are not a gimmick: tax me for my carbon instead of my income. If the apocalypse is indeed nigh, make all taxes green.

3. This new duty is ridiculously punitive. The higher rates are levied on all cars under 7 years old. In other words, the car that I already bought will be socked with this tax increase. It’s one thing to discourage me from walking into a showroom and coming out with a new Hummer, it’s quite another to punish me for my existing car. What am I supposed to do? Buy a new one? Add another car to the road?

4. Brown and Labour continue to smack British families in the face. I have three kids. Alas, we simply won’t all fit into a Kia Picanto.

5. Vehicle excise duty is a crock anyway. I could drive my car for 10 miles a year and still pay the same tax as someone who drives 20,000 miles. How is that green? Surely we already have a car tax which encourages us to drive frugally: petrol prices of £1.20/litre (=$8/gallon).

Let’s have an honest and fair vehicle taxation system. This ain’t it.

____

From:

Lara Moreno Perez
Office of the Leader of the Opposition
House of Commons
London

As you know, the Government plans to raise tax retrospectively on over 80 percent of cars bought since 2001. Raising taxes on cars after people have actually bought them cannot influence behaviour or promote greener driving. This measure is therefore not a genuine green tax. Rather, we believe this is an attempt to raise taxes by stealth on motorists, and so we are opposed to it.

The Environment is a vital issue - we have a responsibility in this generation to make sure we provide a greener and cleaner planet for our children. We simply cannot go on as we are in terms of the way we run Government and live our lives. We want to create incentives for people to help them make greener choices.

We are prepared to make tough choices. We have been honest, and have said very clearly that taxes on pollution will go up. Yet, those increases will be offset pound for pound by reductions in family taxes to help people meet the rising cost of living.

We believe taxes on pollution can play an important role in tackling climate change, but only if they are replacement taxes, matched with tax reductions elsewhere. That is why we have established a family fund into which all of the new taxes on pollution will go. That money will be ring-fenced - no civil servant will be able to get their hands on it - and it will be independently audited. So, as taxes on bad things, like pollution, go up; taxes on good things, like families, will come down.