Author Topic: Cyclists who pay "road tax".. sometimes known as Road Fund Licence & VED  (Read 13236 times)

clarion

  • Tyke
How much VAT do you think car ownership costs?  Shitloads!
Getting there...

How much VAT do you think car ownership costs?  Shitloads!

Also a good point. I think I'll go back to my usual retort of:

"I know, it's great that I don't have to pay road tax! Look at how potholed this road is, you car drivers obviously aren't paying enough, they should double it!"

"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
How much VAT do you think car ownership costs?  Shitloads!

But that's the customer's choice. You could buy a £100 banger, never service it, hardly use it, get lucky at MOT test time but still have to pay VED.
Pen Pusher

My problem with the "you don't pay 'road tax', roads are paid for out of general taxation" argument is that vehicle owners still pay something extra into the general taxation pot that non-vehicle owners don't.

Not all motor-vehicle owners pay extra into the general taxation pot either. If you've got a sufficiently low CO2 emission vehicle you'll not pay into the pot either. As cyclists we currently just pay the same as any other very low CO2 emission vehicle.

Gattopardo

  • Lord of the sith
  • Overseaing the building of the death star
2 cars and two  motorbikes....hopefully that'll reduce as I reduce the fleet.

Not all motor-vehicle owners pay extra into the general taxation pot either. If you've got a sufficiently low CO2 emission vehicle you'll not pay into the pot either. As cyclists we currently just pay the same as any other very low CO2 emission vehicle.

I know, but imagine the extra cost for staff and administration if you made bicycles liable for VED but zero-rated. 30,000,000 (a conservative estimate) extra "vehicles" that have to be processed per year, all for not a penny of extra revenue. Either the VED of non-zero-rated vehicles would have to be increased to make the change fiscally neutral, or an admin charge to be introduced for all applications effectively making them non-zero rated.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Only bikes, so zero.

OTOH, I've never had anyone shout "You don't pay road tax" at me.

Re: Cyclists who pay "road tax"..
« Reply #57 on: 23 March, 2021, 02:43:09 pm »
It's only the ignorant and the idiots who call it road tax.  Can we change it to car tax please?
And people like me who own a Land Rover Tipper and a BMW K100 RS motorcycle. Both taxed

Damon.

Add me to your circle. I pay for my Mercedes :v

Impressive.  ~12 years of thread dormancy.   :D     >80% of adult cyclists also drive (according to CyclingUK)...

The number of people on soshul meeja who go on about giving cyclists respect when they start paying 'road tax', is actually quite alarming.  This despite the fact that the roads are funded through general taxation by all tax payers - no hypothecation of fuel duty etc, VED is a motor vehicle tax based on CO2 emissions, motor vehicle use has major external cost implications (congestions etc) which apparently far exceed duty paid by motorists ... 
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
It's hypothecated again, according to this:

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01482/
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
I believe the hypothecation to the Highways Fund takes effect from April 6th. It doesn't alter the fact that all of our local roads, including many rural A roads, will continue to be funded from general (mainly local) taxation.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
That will be a point lost on the Social Media masses, I fear.
It is simpler than it looks.

It's hypothecated again, according to this:

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01482/

Looks like it relates to the strategic road network, so Highways England motorways and major dual carriageways only.
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

arabella

  • عربللا
  • onwendeð wyrda gesceaft weoruld under heofonum
bit late I know but ...
if VED is hypothecated for motorways and major dual carriageways, then do we need another VED (VED-2/motor-tax) based, say on axle weight instead of on emissions, which goes towards all the social costs of motoring (lung problems, RTA costs, repairing all the railings which are regularly mown down, that sort of thing)
Any fool can admire a mountain.  It takes real discernment to appreciate the fens.

Yes, perhaps.  AFAICS, VED or 'vehicle tax', since 2017 seems only based on emissions in the first year (before flat rate), and by virtue of the fact that EVs are zero rated.    As more and more EVs appear and the govt loses an increasingly large wedge of tax income, my guess is that changes in taxes will appear.  EVs are also part of all the negative external costs of motoring e.g. congestion/collisions.
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Road pricing has to be the only way to go, surely. Even the RAC have come to that conclusion IIRC.

Weight the charge based upon : -
  Emissions
  Vehicle weight / number of axles
  Vehicle footprint
  Time of travel / Amount of congestion
  Spot payments for entry to specific zones (eg London, York City centre, etc etc)
  Miles driven
 
Rust never sleeps

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Congestion - that would be interesting. Would it be cheaper to drive on a congested main road than on a nearby country lane with cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders?
It is simpler than it looks.

Good point. The algorithm and infrastructure will need tweaking doubtless.
Rust never sleeps

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Algorithms, eh?  Sounds like a job for Queen Dido of Carnage.  What could possibly go wrong?
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Congestion - that would be interesting. Would it be cheaper to drive on a congested main road than on a nearby country lane with cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders?
It's always suggested that road pricing will be adjusted on the fly so that it's cheaper to avoid congestion rather than sit in a jam. Which seems back to front in many ways.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Or charge a premium for non-locals using local roads.
Rust never sleeps

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Algorithms, eh?  Sounds like a job for Queen Dido of Carnage.  What could possibly go wrong?

Is Al Gore still active?
It is simpler than it looks.

Wycombewheeler

  • PBP-2019 LEL-2022
Or charge a premium for non-locals using local roads.
This are local roads for local people?

Eddington  127miles, 170km

Only bikes, so zero.

OTOH, I've never had anyone shout "You don't pay road tax" at me.

Double snap.
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

Only bikes, so zero.

OTOH, I've never had anyone shout "You don't pay road tax" at me.

Double snap.

Bet they're thinking it...   ;)  'You were in the middle of the road', is perhaps a more common vocalisation...
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson