Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms UK road Tax

The roads around here consist of a glut of potholes lined by a tiny strip of tarmac.
I got my tax renewal for the Roadster up £20 to £540. A whopping 3.9% increase. Glad to see HM Gov using it to keep the roads driveable.

I don't think it has been used for its designated purpose since 1936 John. I believe that it was introduced to pay for the upkeep.

Is there anyone on here who knows how to raise a petition condemning the Governments squandering of the money collected from road tax on anything but the roads and demanding that our payments are used to improve the condition of the roads? Such a petition could be circulated to all car clubs, company transport managers etc. etc. I do not have the knowledge or ability but would be first in line to sign such a petition. I know that Hammond said that all monies raised by VED would be used to improve the roads after 2020(?) but, as they say "if you believe that, I've got some ocean-front property in Arizona I can sell you at a knock down price".

I agree, not a surprise our leaders are extracting the urine as always.

Think yourself lucky -- in Ireland with all our potholes, a roadster is a whopping €2250 PER ANNUM in tax. At least they don't describe it as road tax as the funds just go into the general kitty!!!

I'm not sure it is still called Road Tax, but was changed to Vehicle Tax and is now more of an environmental tax based on emissions?

Still a rip off though...

Which in it's self is a joke with the owners of quite normal low emission cars still paying tax whilst the owners of cars like the Jenson Interceptor or a '60's RR or any yank tank paying nothing.
Don't get me wrong, good luck to them, I just think the whole system needs sorting so that we, the motorists get what we pay for, roads that are fit for purpose unlike the government.

I was just thinking about this as I drove this morning. Surrey roads are ridiculously bad now, it's hard to imagine how much work would be needed to get it all reasonable again. People coming the other way swerving suddenly to avoid holes etc. I wondered about having a go at the local council.... aren't they charged with making the roads safe?

Try 38 Degrees.

Road tax (I believe it's actually properly called Vehicle Excise Duty) has never been hypothecated for road repairs or maintenance.

All tax revenue in the UK goes into a single pot and the treasury distributes it as per the Government's spending plan. Even National Insurance contributions aren't earmarked for the NHS.

The numbers of pre-1973 cars regularly in use on the roads is very small, and the mileage they do is pretty low in comparison to modern cars. The settings of VED rates are classic examples of 'nudge' theory in action, encouraging people to select cars with lower overall emissions.