Just a mad idea

sogood

Given that I have too much time on my hands, I often contemplate the notion of living in a motorists utopia, with all the usual attendant ills removed and replaced with nothing but fair play and common sense...............

So, with that in mind it occurred to me, how many people drive more than one car? Not too many I'd imagine, except for those classic car fans, who can afford to do so, aided and abetted by the rather appealing €48 annual road tax, which spawned my cunning plan. What about the notion of paying road tax/motor tax, or whatever you wish to call it, on the basis of actually using the roads? So, if you have 2 or more cars, you pay road tax at the higher rate applicable, ie. at the rate applied to the larger engined car. So, even if you had 10 cars, the same single rate applies. Only fair, I think, given that you can only actually drive one car at a time, regardless of how many you might own. And the nice part is that the Government/ Revenue people wouldn't lose anything, in fact, they'd gain!

At the moment "Joe Soap" owns one car, with no intention of owning another, due to costs. But he can get one single, group/fleet/multiple car insurance cover, so why not the same thing for tax. The up side for the Revenue people is that they would gain from extra spending on parts, oil, repairs, tyres etc. etc. helping the economy, without damaging the environment any further, encouraging sales of second hand cars etc.

So, what's wrong with this idea? Well, apart from the fact that it will never happen, largely because its too straightforward and makes sense, there isnt much wrong with it. I shall just store it away, for inclusion in my motorists utopia, where I spend some of my sleeping hours, driving on perfect, pothole free roads, adequately signposted and lit, with sensible and practical speed limits, powered by petrol that isnt 60%+ tax..........Zzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzzzz

J20

This sounds an awful lot like road pricing to me - not a problem if you only have a short commute but punishing for anyone who who drives a significant distance with any regularity.

The principle of one driver, one tax bill appeals to me though. Maybe it could be based on the driver rather than the car? This is along the same lines as a multiple car insurance policy. I wonder if the weight of bureaucracy would kill this idea though.

corktina

abolish road tax and add it to petrol tax...chh..simple

Redrocket

tax the petrol, it's what the sensible countries DO, then you pay per mile and per efficiency etc of the car.

sogood

Redrocket wrote: »

tax the petrol, it's what the sensible countries DO, then you pay per mile and per efficiency etc of the car.

Agreed, as I have suggested in a previous (detailed) post, but once again, it makes too much sense!!

kasper

they already do that road fuel is one of the highest taxes we pay percentage wise

bijapos

I think the general idea is to remove road tax and put about 5c on a litre of petrol. From a classic car point of view it would save a lot of high cc 80's and early 90's classics from the crusher and make them more affordable to maintain. I mean here stuff like a 635 CSI, 500 SEC's or indeed a lot of W124's and so on.

junkyard

bijapos wrote: »

I think the general idea is to remove road tax and put about 5c on a litre of petrol. From a classic car point of view it would save a lot of high cc 80's and early 90's classics from the crusher and make them more affordable to maintain. I mean here stuff like a 635 CSI, 500 SEC's or indeed a lot of W124's and so on.

The green party would have issues with that no doubt, not that they'll ever be in power again after the next election thankfully. A transferable tax disc would be a good idea too I think, like a trade plate for non motor trade, whereby you could put the disc on any one car you were driving on that day.

2cv

Redrocket wrote: »

tax the petrol, it's what the sensible countries DO, then you pay per mile and per efficiency etc of the car.

That way you'd abolish the tax advantage on classic cars, camper vans, commercial vehicles, hearses, the lot really

Itsfixed

well the commission for taxation has recommended putting a carbon tax on fuel, which means petrol or diesel, as a replacement for VRT. Remains to be seen whether the govt will go for it, but I'd be interested in hearing about how it would work.

Dades

sogood wrote: »

And the nice part is that the Government/ Revenue people wouldn't lose anything, in fact, they'd gain!

I don't really see how the government would gain in this situation. Where before they have someone paying tax on two cars, not they're only paying tax on the highest value one. That's the only cash going directly into their coffers.

2cv wrote: »

That way you'd abolish the tax advantage on classic cars, camper vans, commercial vehicles, hearses, the lot really

But everything would be tax advantaged! The idea is that the tax rate would drop across the board if they taxed fuel, rather than the cc of the engine sitting in your garage.

peasant

They do (did?) this in Switzerland ...only they went one step further

There all the vehicles you owned were registered under the same licence plate, you paid your tax for the most expensive one and then you could swap the licence plate around to whatever you wanted to drive on the day.

Redrocket

2cv wrote: »

That way you'd abolish the tax advantage on classic cars, camper vans, commercial vehicles, hearses, the lot really

I know. It's indiscriminate to what you drive, we have 1 stupid law charging nothing for road tax that can be exploited badly by classics, and we have another stupid law charging 1600 odd for a car that might only do 100 miles a year, or might do 50,000, basically the tax does not represent how much you use the road with your vehicle. petrol tax is based on road usage and efficiency of car.

I'm not for changing the law for classics, im just saying it's logical

2cv

Redrocket wrote: »

I know. It's indiscriminate to what you drive, we have 1 stupid law charging nothing for road tax that can be exploited badly by classics, and we have another stupid law charging 1600 odd for a car that might only do 100 miles a year, or might do 50,000, basically the tax does not represent how much you use the road with your vehicle. petrol tax is based on road usage and efficiency of car.

I'm not for changing the law for classics, im just saying it's logical

You're actually right With the mileage i do in my classics, i wouldn't even feel it