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Harley's Dad · 18-11-2012, 06:28 PM

Having just renewed my car tax online I'm reminded yet again about how much the motorist is shafted by the Exchequer - and how much he/she is demonised by the Government and other slanted organisations.

I haven't bought a new car for years but, when I last did, a Special Car Tax was added to the price and then VAT was added to both the basic cost of the car and also to the Special Car Tax - what a blatant rip-off!

As to fuel costs, much the greater part of the cost of a litre of petrol (why the hell are we dealing in bloody litres for God's sake - at the whim of overpaid Brussels bureaucrats) the greater part (repeating myself) goes to the Government in tax. Why do I even have to pay a road tax at all when the Government is already milking the poor bloody motorist till he/she bleeds. Petrol in the Western Isles last summer was over £1.50 a litre and diesel about £1.55. Those of the poor bloody locals who even have jobs have to drive to and from their scattered crofts to their work at excruciating expense - but of course they are "wrong" to even be motoring at all in the eyes of some.

The most recent figures I have (some 2/3 years out of date) show that the Exchequer derived some £42 billion per year from the motorist - yet the expenditure on roads was a mere £6 billion, just one pound in seven. More recent figures are no doubt worse. The motorist is utterly shafted on all counts. The roads are inadequate, the sad death toll on the roads is too high (but actually no higher than before WW2 when there were hugely fewer vehicles on the roads), and he is just a figure who can be squeezed to the absolute limit. I strongly suspect that the senior civil servants who make recommendations to Ministers live within easy commuting distance of London, use public transport, and are spared the realities of today's motoring.

But I've just paid my Road Tax, not a fraction of which will go towards roads, and I'll continue to subscribe to the Exchequer every time I refuel my car. Why do I deserve this?

Tony (don't let's start on ecology for the moment, particularly those who live in urban areas!)

18-11-2012, 06:28 PM	#1
Harley's Dad Join Date: Jan 2005	Taxing the motorist Having just renewed my car tax online I'm reminded yet again about how much the motorist is shafted by the Exchequer - and how much he/she is demonised by the Government and other slanted organisations. I haven't bought a new car for years but, when I last did, a Special Car Tax was added to the price and then VAT was added to both the basic cost of the car and also to the Special Car Tax - what a blatant rip-off! As to fuel costs, much the greater part of the cost of a litre of petrol (why the hell are we dealing in bloody litres for God's sake - at the whim of overpaid Brussels bureaucrats) the greater part (repeating myself) goes to the Government in tax. Why do I even have to pay a road tax at all when the Government is already milking the poor bloody motorist till he/she bleeds. Petrol in the Western Isles last summer was over £1.50 a litre and diesel about £1.55. Those of the poor bloody locals who even have jobs have to drive to and from their scattered crofts to their work at excruciating expense - but of course they are "wrong" to even be motoring at all in the eyes of some. The most recent figures I have (some 2/3 years out of date) show that the Exchequer derived some £42 billion per year from the motorist - yet the expenditure on roads was a mere £6 billion, just one pound in seven. More recent figures are no doubt worse. The motorist is utterly shafted on all counts. The roads are inadequate, the sad death toll on the roads is too high (but actually no higher than before WW2 when there were hugely fewer vehicles on the roads), and he is just a figure who can be squeezed to the absolute limit. I strongly suspect that the senior civil servants who make recommendations to Ministers live within easy commuting distance of London, use public transport, and are spared the realities of today's motoring. But I've just paid my Road Tax, not a fraction of which will go towards roads, and I'll continue to subscribe to the Exchequer every time I refuel my car. Why do I deserve this? Tony (don't let's start on ecology for the moment, particularly those who live in urban areas!)
Harley's Dad Join Date: Jan 2005	Never surrender.