Comments on: Don’t call it ‘road tax’, call it ‘car tax’. (AA, Post Office & DVLA now do)

By: carltonreid

carltonreid — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:31:00 +0000

Ah, now there’s something we can agree on: Government’s using sleight of hand.

By: Oldishhack

Oldishhack — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 07:53:00 +0000

Whatever words we use to describe the tax, there should be an implied covenant between the two. You need VED to be able to drive on a public road, therefore the public road should be provided as part of paying the tax. But any government is quite happy to pick our pockets and make us pay over and over again for the same thing.

By: carltonreid

carltonreid — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:59:00 +0000

Please keep reading the site. You’ll get an answer to this one.nnSORN seems like the killer doesn’t it? But it’s not.nnA UK registered car used only ever in France (lots of ex pats do this) still has to pay UK VED. It’s not a tax to use UK roads, it’s a tax on the actual vehicle owned, and how much that particular vehicle emits in CO2.

By: IanG

IanG — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:35:00 +0000

One slight problem with this whole argument: SORN, the Statutory Off Road NotificatIon. This lets you opt out of the tax if you keep your car off the road. You are only obliged to pay VED if you use or keep your car on a public road. So whatever the tax is called, there’s no avoiding the fact that it’s a tax you pay if and only if you use the roads. In that light, ‘road tax’ seems like a more accurate description than ‘car tax’

By: Hoverboard Hammond screws up on long-dead tax – I Pay Road Tax

Hoverboard Hammond screws up on long-dead tax – I Pay Road Tax — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:51:16 +0000

[...] by 2013 will curb carbon, too). It also mentions Vehicle Excise Duty but makes the mistake – inexcusable in the Department that is in charge of these sort of things – of calling it ‘road [...]

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:29:01 +0000

Technically “car insurance” is also wrong as it is not the car but the driver that is insured, in the UK. If the car was insured then it would cover any driver driving it, which is commonly the case on the continent, where they have a far few problems with uninsured drivers…

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:15:00 +0000

Another example (& a jornalist who gets up tight when corrected about using the wrong term)nhttp://www.lovemoney.com/blog/thebigpicture/60-ways-to-cut-government-spending-3244.aspx

By: Charles

Charles — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 22:15:32 +0000

Another example (& a jornalist who gets up tight when corrected about using the wrong term)
http://www.lovemoney.com/blog/thebigpicture/60-...

By: neilfabri

neilfabri — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:38:46 +0000

Nowadays there is another tax that is masked in a certain way. They call in auto insurance. You don't pay it, you are not allowed to drive. I was always wondering why this tax is everywhere imposed by law but the ones collecting this "tax" are the private insurance companies. One gets always caught between low price and full car insurance quotes spending a big amount of time running around to get the best deal and in the end they pay a lot of money even if they have a clean driving history and no claims.

By: rococo911

rococo911 — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:27:30 +0000

I enjoyed your story about tax history, tax dodgers and freeloaders. It reminded me I still need to pay for my auto insurance and my VED (since the road tax was abolished in 1937). I loved the taxman song at the end, because it took me back to my college days and it helped me put a little perspective on these daily worries.