How will UK road tax rates change in the coming years?
Setting road tax rates will never be an easy task for the Chancellor of the Exchequer as there are so many vehicle use and environmental factors influencing the choices that can be made when of course there is an underlying need to collect funds through road taxes to cover a wide range of road use and maintenance costs. The Centre of Policy Studies has called for a 'major overhaul' of the UK's motoring taxation system, with a “suggestion that a pay-as-you-drive charge” should be introduced and that it should initially apply to zero emission vehicles (ZEVs)
such as electric cars before being expanded to cover all vehicles. The document stated that this would replace the “outdated and onerous tax system” of fuel duty and vehicle excise duty (VED).
In the Spring Budget 2024 the Chancellor announced road tax would apply to the growing number of electric vehicles from April 2025. That was necessary with the ending of sales on petrol and diesel fuelled cars in the 2030s when the tax revenue from that group of vehicles would inevitably fall. But with all projects, like changing road tax rates, the key issue is “what are the aims of the project?” Without a clear idea of those aims the project is often at risk of becoming a “mystery tour” with scope creep and unintended consequences! In those cases
This artile looks at some of the issues and choices to be made when of course there is an underlying need to collect funds through road taxes to cover a wide range of road use and maintenance costs.
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