[Steve_M_Sport]

We all knew it would have to come at some stage to replace the £28 billion a year tax ICE car drivers currently pay to HMRC.

With the increasing cost of electricity the cost saving of an EV over ICE will reduce once implemented & will this stall the EV stampede ?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...ices-tax-mile/

[SimonBMW1]

Good, we pay tax on ICE, so its only fair tbh.
As long as ICE dont have a Pay per Mile added.

[JNW1]

Pay per mile has its attractions and seems almost inevitable eventually. However, doing it by simple reference to odometer readings isn't a sensible solution IMO - that would do nothing to address things like congestion and would also work against those living in more remote rural areas. To me a better solution is one that charges depending on road type, time of day, etc, but technologically that's obviously more difficult to implement.

I assume ICE cars would continue to be taxed as they are at the moment - it would seem very unfair if they incurred road pricing charges aimed at EV's on top of things like fuel duty although I suppose nothing's impossible if a future government decided it really wanted ICE cars off the road...

[SkyJawa]

pay per mile would suit me much better, particularly for the 205 that does very few!

[DaveA]

This suggestion to move to PPM has been ignored by Government for some time now... The idea to swap duty out of fuel onto a PPM for all vehicles has been around for a good while, and there are lots of positives to it in terms of fair taxation across all power sources etc..

In fact, I was reminded of this only the other day as it was mentioned in the last "Private Eye" magazine in respect of how a failure to act on road pricing has left the gov in a position where it is almost powerless to help with the amounts we are being charged for petrol/diesel...

Had Gov heeded experts before now, they could simply reduce road charges for a while to help out...

I agree with some comments above about a smarter system being needed that takes around of travel times and locations... The smart road tolling I am seeing lately in the USA offers different pricing for different days and times of day... and is signed above the express lanes concerned... so you can chose "fast and pay" or "slow n free"...

[isleaiw1]

as someone who now drives 8k miles a year and used to do 40k, I am all for the proposal to charge per mile these days. It does however seem to be a step too far for a govt incapable of getting simple stuff right (and I dont just mean this one!) - take the winter fuel payments, payable by individual not by address so if 3 oldies live in same property as was case for my in laws, they get 3x the amount - which paid the whole year of fuel...

Getting the charging right across different road types, localities, times etc will be way beyond them. And that is before we start talking about exemptions for certain trades ....

[TimMcC]

Sounds like a good plan to me. I've been enjoying taking advantage of the tax breaks for the last 3 years, but it ought to end at some point clearly.

Personally I would apply the change across the board and remove fuel duty and 'road tax' at the same time. Simple miles driven is fine in my opinion, I don't think we owe anything to people in rural areas to make living costs equitable with other areas. They already pay more in fuel, this would just be shifting the tax structure around to take account for EVs. There are many pros and cons to urban vs rural life and this is just one of them.

[KRS_SN]

Raising taxation on kwh of electricity used for EV charging to fill the tax hole ?

[TimMcC]

Originally Posted by KRS_SN

Raising taxation on kwh of electricity used for EV charging to fill the tax hole ?

You could apply it to public chargers, but that's going to hit those who can't charge at home the hardest. It would be very easy to circumvent at home even if you enforced metering of fast charge points. Who's going to stop you plugging in via a 3-pin plug?

Mileage is just easier.

[JD6]

Currently those who drive ICE cars faster, pay more tax per mile than those who potter. I support a flat per mile tax rate

[KRS_SN]

Originally Posted by TimMcC

Mileage is just easier.

Re mileage. Do you wait till year end and pay retrospectively for Miles used? And importantly can EV's be clocked.

[MY340i]

tbf should just get rid of VED fully. seems like a war on motorists constantly.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by MY340i

tbf should just get rid of VED fully. seems like a war on motorists constantly.

I guess there will still have to be a way of raising more revenue from those with expensive cars than those with a basic runabout. So either the price per mile varies with car type, or they still need VED I would have thought.

[MY340i]

Originally Posted by JD6

I guess there will still have to be a way of raising more revenue from those with expensive cars than those with a basic runabout. So either the price per mile varies with car type, or they still need VED I would have thought.

VED isfor emissions, hence electric cars and cyclists etc don't pay.

If new cars don't pollute harmful emissions, then they don't need to pay this tax.

The VED is designed to move consumers to more environmentally conscious cars, not to raise money.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by MY340i

VED isfor emissions, hence electric cars and cyclists etc don't pay.

If new cars don't pollute harmful emissions, then they don't need to pay this tax.

The VED is designed to move consumers to more environmentally conscious cars, not to raise money.

I disagree. VED is partially based on emissions and partially the car's value, but it is just one of the ways of raising tax revenue from motorists. The government, quite rightly, aren't going to give up this income stream just because we switch to EVs. The current EV exemption is an anomaly which will be closed at some point.

As a nation, we still have a substantial deficit, so they will need to raise money from motorists in one way or another. So they could incorporate it into higher per mile charges, or more likely just base VED on something other than emissions.

[sahajesh]

Originally Posted by KRS_SN

Re mileage. Do you wait till year end and pay retrospectively for Miles used? And importantly can EV's be clocked.

And what about mileage driven abroad in Europe? I do 2-3k miles pa so it needs to be cleverer in some way.

Doesn't apply to many, I agree but for me that's about 10% of annual mileage.

[sahajesh]

Originally Posted by MY340i

VED isfor emissions, hence electric cars and cyclists etc don't pay.

If new cars don't pollute harmful emissions, then they don't need to pay this tax.

The VED is designed to move consumers to more environmentally conscious cars, not to raise money.

Haha VED is not for raising money for the Govt, hilarious

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by TimMcC

Simple miles driven is fine in my opinion, I don't think we owe anything to people in rural areas to make living costs equitable with other areas. They already pay more in fuel, this would just be shifting the tax structure around to take account for EVs. There are many pros and cons to urban vs rural life and this is just one of them.

I see your point but at the moment people in rural areas who have to cover longer distances can mitigate that to some extent by (for example) choosing a more economical vehicle to keep their fuel costs down. However, what can they do if you move to simple road pricing based on a flat rate for mileage driven? Seems to me in that scenario they're stuffed - alright, they could choose to live somewhere different to reduce their mileage but, even if they were prepared to do that, the cost implications of moving might not be practical for everyone.

I agree completely there are pros and cons to rural life but a shift to road pricing in the form you're suggesting would potentially add a major con that people weren't expecting when they made their choice about where to live!

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by JD6

I disagree. VED is partially based on emissions and partially the car's value, but it is just one of the ways of raising tax revenue from motorists. The government, quite rightly, aren't going to give up this income stream just because we switch to EVs. The current EV exemption is an anomaly which will be closed at some point.

As a nation, we still have a substantial deficit, so they will need to raise money from motorists in one way or another. So they could incorporate it into higher per mile charges, or more likely just base VED on something other than emissions.

I agree with much of that. The reality is motorists provide the government with a significant source of revenue and altering the power source to a battery rather than an ICE won't change that in the medium and long-term. Yes EV's are getting generous tax treatment at the moment but that can't and won't last (which is exactly why we're seeing discussions starting to take place about things like road pricing again).

[MY340i]

Originally Posted by JNW1

I agree with much of that. The reality is motorists provide the government with a significant source of revenue and altering the power source to a battery rather than an ICE won't change that in the medium and long-term. Yes EV's are getting generous tax treatment at the moment but that can't and won't last (which is exactly why we're seeing discussions starting to take place about things like road pricing again).

perhaps a better tax on emissions would be the carbon footprint of food that you are buying.

hopefully we can save the planet without the need to penalize motorists too heavily.

[Pentland]

Originally Posted by sahajesh

And what about mileage driven abroad in Europe? I do 2-3k miles pa so it needs to be cleverer in some way.

Doesn't apply to many, I agree but for me that's about 10% of annual mileage.

Don’t you essentially pay for your annual emissions while abroad or otherwise just now?

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by MY340i

perhaps a better tax on emissions would be the carbon footprint of food that you are buying.

hopefully we can save the planet without the need to penalize motorists too heavily.

You still seem to think the government levies tax on the motorist because of emissions but it really doesn't. That might have become a popular myth recently - and something used to differentiate the tax raised from different vehicles - but the reality is the motorist is an important source of revenue and one way or another that will continue regardless of the emissions vehicles produce.