Originally Posted by
Harley's Dad
Rhuben, you're quite possibly right about my misuse of the term Road Tax (mea culpa) but that is actually a quibble.
You say that everyone funds the upkeep of roads out of general taxation. No they bloody well don't! In practical terms the motorist does, to the tune of some 700% more than is actually spent on the roads and those motorists therefore have a valid right to complain about the inadequacy of the roads. And tell me just why the motorist should be singled out for this burden of extra taxation? Because they're all rich? Rubbish, we've already seen on this thread how necessary running a car is to many people's lives and how, particularly, the cost of motoring hits those who live in the country hardest.
For my money (what's left of it after running a car!) I would like to see a study carried out to determine what would be the effect on GDP if the Chancellor were to ratchet down fuel duty gradually over perhaps ten years until UK had the cheapest fuel in Europe. I like to think that it would provide a massive boost for the economy and give us something of a head start on the rest of the EU - but of course I'm not qualified to guarantee that.
However, I do remain in a fully justified huff about the extra tax (or whatever pedants choose to call it) which I have to pay just to run my daily life using four wheels.
Tony (I much look forward to your reply).
As I've already stated motorists are not directly funding the roads through taxation on petrol, VED, etc. Everyone pays for them because all taxes go into the central government fund. There is no distinction made between that which is collected from tax on petrol and that which is collected from taxing peoples earnings or what they spend on clothes and food.
Tax on things like petrol is also spent on education, social security, healthcare, policing, the military, etc. Therefore reducing the tax on petrol would leave a black hole in the governments budget widening the budget gap and increasing the reliance on dangerous levels of borrowing. Which would ultimately mean having to hike taxes in other areas such as VAT or income tax which people would also be equally liable to moan about. Like or lump it we have debts which have to be repaid, the annual interest repayments on Britain's debt pile is around £43 billion and still increasing. Therefore cutting taxes simply isn't feasible in the current economic climate. Even with efficiency savings and cuts across most government departments Britain's deficit is still expected to remain fairly large for the next several years, therefore taxes are going to have to remain as they are or possibly increase.
I'm a motorist myself so I know how expensive owning a car is. However my opinion is that many motorists simply have a victim complex if they think they're unfairly targeted. Tax is expensive for everyone not just for motorists, there's tax on food, earnings, clothing, buying a house, selling a house, inheritance, insurance, furniture, cosmetics, etc. Everyone is burdened by taxes, the same is true in most countries. However if we want things like policing, the military, and everything else which our taxes fund then it is something we simply have to put up with. Cutting taxes on motoring means having to hike them elsewhere, it's a no win situation.
As the old saying goes "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes".
In any case the option exists for many motorists to reduce the burden of taxation by using alternative means should they so wish. If one drives a dirty inefficient monster of a car which gets less than 25 mpg and belches out pollution like a Chinese coal mine then yes you're going to be using more fuel and paying more VED. If however you use a modern efficient petrol or diesel which achieves a high mpg along with very low emissions you wont pay any VED and furthermore you'll be spending less on fuel on account of the increase in efficiency. That's the choice I made, I recently purchased a new car and made the choice to purchase a modern efficient petrol model with low emissions and a very high mpg I am now exempt from VED and my spending on fuel has also decreased significantly compared to my old car which only got 30 mpg. People can change their habits and find a way to make savings however most simply don't want to.