The government has declared its budget for 2008. Among the changes that will affect motorists are:
- Increased fuel tax (postponed until October)
- Funding for new technology to manage road pricing
- Higher first year tax on the most polluting cars
- Planned changes to vehicle tax from April 2009 to encourage manufacturers to build less polluting cars
Will the 2008 budget have an effect on what car you drive or how much you drive? What’s your reaction to the budget?
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217 Comments
March 12, 2008 at 5:06 pm
total money grab under the blind cover of bogus environmental garbage. planes can’t be taxed-they fuel and are owned overseas; ditto ships; trains can’t be taxed-the would just loose the government more money; so its cars and private car users getting clobbered again – £710M extra just on road tax disc, never mind petrol and diesel. I’m going to france. NO ROAD TAX at all and diesel fuel which was 99 cents in 2000 is still about 1.18 euro in a supermarket there(90p a litre).
March 12, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Unbelieveable, whats with everything trying to be green i thought politicians weren’t supposed to be fashionable, couldn’t be a stealth tax could it?!?!
Why can’t they invest there money sorting china’s problems instead of getting greedy from my hard earned cash, profanaties couldn’t describe what I think of Mr Darling
March 12, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Should have put road tax up a lot higher.
What is a Cayenne S doing in a town anyway?
March 12, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Conned and robbed again by this labour goverment. to get extra money in the pot cut MPs wages!
March 12, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Are motorists now funding the illegal war in Iraq? Do we have to follow a Government led by a Prime Minister the public didn’t vote for?
Is our greedy, conniving Government using “climate change” & “global warming” buzz words to steal our money?
Yes, yes & yes.
It’s humiliating having such a disgraceful Government.
March 12, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Another absolute joke with regards to tax. It makes me sooo angry they try and put these taxes down to the environment and people just swallow it. It’s about time people grew a back bone and said enough is enough!!!! We have been in a rising climate for millions of years, stop hammering the motorist who in this country contributes a tiny amount of co2 into the atmosphere. I drive a ‘gas guzzler’ and have no intention of stopping. Wake up people this is just a way of labour taking more of our hard earned cash.
March 12, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Well, there are two sides to it all really – possibly three…
It is totally fair enough to tax cars that emmit more pollution more money. That makes sense. However, should the charge not be on the manufacturer, rather than the consumer – we don’t design the engines so why do we suffer the cost? I am yet to see a family estate with an 1 litre engine that can go up a hill with the kids and the luggage in tow.
Secondly, is this the way to tackle pollution. Nationally our contribution to global pollution is, well negligible. China, USA, aircraft etc…the list goes on. Are they, (the corporates) making a ‘fair’ contribution; no.
Finally, who does this really affect? It certainly isn’t the rich, as they can afford it. It is not the poor, as they can’t afford it. Could it be the working classes yet again, subsidising deficits not created by themselves.
Tax the rich – heavily. Surely that’s fair, if we all benefit? Isn’t it?
March 12, 2008 at 8:18 pm
The government are using the profile of extremist environmental hand wringers to push forward tax raising measures against the will of the country. If anyone really thinks these changes will have any discernable effect on the environment, they are sadly misguided. For a start, only 3% of CO2 emissions are man made (fact). IF global warming could even be proved to be fundamentally caused by man made activity (unlikely, given the basic facts as above) then does anyone think that maybe taking a few of the higher emitting cars off the road in little old UK is going to make any difference? Global warming is GLOBAL and China are building coal fired power stations at the rate of one every two weeks! At this rate we’ll be back to horses and carts while the developing economies surpass our standard of living.
March 12, 2008 at 8:24 pm
What a joke this country is becoming, Car tax up again. plus petrol, when will it stop rising..
Well ill make sure i fit that bigger exhaust on my car and burn out more CO2 as im paying for it!!
March 12, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Unbelieveable, the country loves to take tax everything and increase the rate of every so often and it affects the average driver, not those rich guys whom make those decisions!.
March 12, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Clown policies by a guy that looks like a clown
March 12, 2008 at 8:42 pm
New motorist here, this is getting out of hand. Why don’t they start taxing the airports, why they’re buliding an extension to my hometown’s airport, and they blame us for all this “Carbon” nonsense. Well first of all stop taking down the Amazon rainforest Carbon-Dioxide —> Oxygen!
I can’t see what the problem is!
“Global Warming” in my opinion is a lot of old toosh – the person who invented this must be really rich I mean seriously!
Not that I’m for going “greener” anyhow but all this makes you want to drive a 7 litre Range Rover or whatever!
March 12, 2008 at 8:46 pm
This tax doesn’t take into account the life cycle of a car (i.e. how much C02 goes into making a car, how long the car lasts etc.). Only stupid people think less c02 a car emits = more pollution. Toyota built a new factory for the Prius, how much c02 went into that?!
The biggest contributor (in the UK motoring world) to c02 production is the person who buys a new car every year. Those who keep the same car for 10-15yrs should be rewarded not penalised with this idiotic idea current being used.
This is an attempt at taxing the rich and has nothing to do with the environment.
Edited by moderator. No insults please.
March 12, 2008 at 8:58 pm
So according to this, my humble 02 reg Vectra SR 130 that by 2010 will be 8 years old and probably be worth around £1000 will be in line for £260 road tax!! It is a clean and efficient car that does between 30 and 40mpg but emits 187 gms of CO2. Where as all pre 2000 cars are exempt from CO2 taxes, including Range Rovers and Rolls Royces!! I would sell it but who would want to buy it now!!??
March 12, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I (with a car of 185g/km) will have to find an extra £90 next year. A slightly more polluting car of 195g/km which up until now was a bracket higher, will now pay the same as me …. an increase of only £50.
So, to the idiot Chancellor, who thinks he is taxing those who pollute more …….. I for one will be buying a more polluting car next year, ‘cos it will cost me the same as my less polluting one.
March 12, 2008 at 10:12 pm
what a joke why are they picking on 2006 cars when i got my car it was £210 a year for road tax now its £400 why do we jump up so much , the govement says its to make me change my car well if thats the case i could buy the same car made befor march 2006 and pay less road tax or i could go all out and make some real co’2 and buy a 1991 4.0L jeep with low road tax what a bargin . its the old cars that should be of the road as they are the smokers , goverments got it all wrong there just makeing money if they really wanted to get the high c0′2 cars of the road it would been done on all years time to leave this country its gone to pop
March 12, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Hammer the motorist yet again.
This is the most corrupt ,lying bankrupt of ideas government this country has ever seen.
Call a general election if you dare. Especially when no one else seems to care. We already pay more than just about any country in the world. Bunch of self serving crooks.
Edited by moderator. No swearing please.
March 12, 2008 at 11:28 pm
I think Mr Darling has well and truly done us motorists a bad deal. Though i do agree with the Chelsea tractors tax bands, as they’re not needed in the city, off road yes!
Though what aggrevates me the most is that we’re told to buy small engine cars to help the environment but what did Mr Darling drive away in when he’d delivered his budget….. a Range Rover probably at least 3.0 litre possibly 4.0 litre. Of course extra road tax for him wont matter he’ll get a pay rise in order to compensate it in the next few months you just wait!
What’s that saying you should practice what you preach!
As a brand new motorist it is already expensive buying insurance without having to fathom out new road tax costs, which will add on a few more pounds. However, my dad is seriously going to be penalised as he has a 2.0 litre focus however uses it only a couple of times a week but still has to pay the same as someone with the same car who uses it a hell of a lot more! This whole climate change, save the environment stuff what is the point when you have the majority of American’s driving round in 4.0+ litre pick up trucks and China erecting a power station every week-what difference will the piddly UK make to climate change when we’re up against these countries?????
March 12, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Taxing vehicles on the basis of bands is the most unfair system ever devised. My Jaguar will rise to over £400.00 per dispite the fact I don’t fly and do less than 4,000 miles per year. I already pay more tax on ever gallong of petrol I buy and now I will end up paying even more tax dispite the fact that a driver with a vehicle in a lower band who drives 10,000 miles a year actualy pollutes more than I do. This new car tax band system is nothing more than a way to raise money and has very little to do with actual environmental issues.
March 13, 2008 at 1:04 am
Outrage. I’m so sick of England. I love this country but i’m sick of being shafted. Whatever happened to parity? The US is a very different economy but fundamentally, isn’t crippled by woeful public transport, without viable alternative. I will not vote for any green measures until we are as hard on foreign environmental policy as we are on national environment issues.