Tax Free Driving

[naomi24]

I've just been listening to an interesting conversation on the Jeremy Vine show. Since electric cars are exempt from road tax and don’t need petrol, their drivers pay nothing whatsoever towards the upkeep of our roads. If that situation remains how are the roads going to be maintained when we're all driving electric cars?

[youngmafbog]

Simple. The smart meters will detect an electric car is being charged and an extra tarrif will be applied for HMRC.

Add to that 'road tax' will will be levied on EV's and tolls on roads.

All coming very soon I suspect.

[Ellipsis]

Road tax doesn't pay for road maintenance, just like National Insurance doesn't pay for the NHS.

[naomi24]

Okay. So with electric cars being exempt from road tax there's already a hole in the coffers.... and an even bigger one now they don't pay for petrol.

[sandra4444]

I believe there is a higher rate of tax already on charging a car.

[naomi24]

Tax on what, Sandra?

[sandra4444]

The electric used, the few that are already in operation around the country.
I saw it on TV a couple of weeks ago, because I remember thinking that's not going to encourage people to have one.

Not to sure how it will work if you have a home charger?

[chelle7272]

Charging is at the standard VAT rate

Pay per mile schemes have been suggested
https://www.driving.co.uk/news/roads/urgent-pay-per-mile-road-pricing-government/
Otherwise I imagine other taxes will rise to fill the gap in the budget

[ToraToraTora]

They'll introduce road pricing.

[sandra4444]

Rapid charging stations will be more expensive I believe than charging at home.
Especially motorway stations.

[ToraToraTora]

there is no such thing as "road tax" anyway.

[ToraToraTora]

can't tax the lecky, no one knows what it's being used for. They'll have smart meters on cars and will charge by the mile/time of day/type of road etc.

[Zacs-Master]

'Rapid charging stations will be more expensive I believe than charging at home.'

Indeed it is. Much more expensive. Full charge at home - around £5. Charge for topping up by 30% at a motorway services - £5.71.

[MrsCheese]

Every time they introduce a tax free way of doing something they get the masses to switch to it, once everyone has switched they move the goalposts and create a new tax in the tax free thing you swapped to.

Even if everyone stopped driving cars they would come up with a tax to use a park or a tax to go into a shopping centre or just hike the price of public transport and services all under the guise of saving the planet or some other current fad.

[dannyk13]

An inkling of what might be in the near future:-
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10637983/Toll-roads-brought-raise-taxes-fuel-duty-cut-report-says.html

[douglas9401]

Maybe 'electric cars are currently exempt from road tax' will be nearer the truth.

Going forward.

[Zacs-Master]

Just a point (which TTT has also made) but Road Tax was abolished in 1937 this is even before some ABers were born!

[douglas9401]

True, as a point of pedantry, but we know what it means.

[Zacs-Master]

Well, I suppose you'd spot that sort of thing, Dooooogie.

[Zacs-Master]

I think a tax will be forthcoming in the next year. When I went to charge mine up on Sunday afternoon at a services on the M1 (with 6 chargers) I had to wait for a space to become available and there were cars filling spaces as soon as someone left.

[Arrods]

Electric car owners are presumably paying the 5% VAT on increased usage.