Tax-per-mile would put us on right road
CHANCELLOR of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is facing the problem of a mounting national debt. He will now be applying his mind as to how to pay off these mammoth obligations, and with a Budget coming up in November, some original thinking is required.
Last month in this column, I suggested a vehicle tow-bar tax to reflect the wear and tear on roads, currently entirely free. Now, having taken council and advice from automobile engineering and electronic experts, I have another suggestion.
This Government is constantly waxing lyrical on its desire to ensure fairness for all. Highly commendable, and to underline this desire, I believe that it should completely alter the way in which road vehicles are taxed.
At present low-mileage users heavily subsidise high mileage drivers, yet they may use exactly the same model of car and pay the same amount of road tax.
This is grossly unfair and should be altered to a system whereby road users pay a tax based on miles driven.
I am advised that with the use of today’s modern electronic technology, this is perfectly feasible. Each mile covered would be reported to a centralised computing system which would be able to calculate tax incurred accordingly. Now I suppose that some smart lawyers might immediately scream data protection.
However, I am sure that this angle can be covered, possibly with every vehicle having its own “black box”. There could be different rates for varying types of engine capacity as now. A spin-off might well be that high-mileage users might opt for smaller engine vehicles, thereby making a substantial contribution to us all living in cleaner air.
In relation to HGVs, it might encourage more goods to be sent by rail, especially if Government can be encouraged to open up long closed lines. Here again, a contribution to cleaner air.
Taxing vehicle owners for their actual use of the roads, plus a levy on tow bars, seems to me to be reasonable and equitable.
Russell Luckock is chairman of Birmingham pressings firm
AE Harris