Government is considering road pricing and pay-per-mile schemes as it looks to plug £40 billion black hole in tax revenue, says Dan Powell of Honest John Vans.
Honest John Vans is urging the Government to listen to the nation’s motorists and replace the current road tax system with one that is fairer and simpler for all. The call comes as the first submissions have been made to the Parliamentary Transport Committee’s inquiry into the future of road pricing.
The Westminster committee has been established to find a solution to what is expected to be a £40billion black hole in revenue as a result of the increased uptake of electric cars and vans. The Government has committed to ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030; however, with electric cars and vans being exempt from road tax VED and fuel duty, it will result in a huge decline in Government revenue. Huw Merriman MP Chair of the Transport Committee has admitted “something will have to change” with ‘pay-as-you-drive’ being one of the schemes under consideration.
Honest John Vans and Heycar has commissioned extensive joint research into the future of road tax by consulting over 10,000 car and van drivers on their views on what the future of VED (vehicle excise duty) should look like. They discovered that motorists overwhelmingly favour a wholesale overhaul of the system – to make it fairer and easier to understand for all.
One in five (19 per cent) favour the introduction of a pay-per-mile system of road charging. At the same time, over a quarter (28 per cent) of drivers say they would like a flat-rate of vehicle tax introduced – resulting in petrol, diesel, EV and hybrid owners paying exactly the same. An increase in fuel duty was supported by 16 per cent while road tolls emerged as the least popular option – favoured by just 8 per cent. The findings also revealed that two out of three motorists were unaware that the consultation is even taking place.
Dan Powell, Editor at Honest John Vans, says: “As a result of the Government’s commitment to removing polluting vehicles from the road, the road tax VED system requires a root and branch overhaul. Currently it’s a confusing and opaque mish-mash of various different approaches and pieces of legislation bolted together. Our wide-ranging consultation with over 10,000 motorists couldn’t be clearer in its findings – the system must be simplified and made fairer for all road users.
“To achieve this one in five suggest a pay-per-mile system should be adopted, while some even suggest the more radical approach of a single flat-rate of tax for all vehicles. An increase in road tolls also has its supporters. And while adopting a flat-rate risks disincentivizing the uptake of EVs – the Government would do well to listen to what motorists tell them.”
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