[singlepic id=43 w=320 h=240 float=left]This is something that has always got me confused and this is what I think is meant by Congestion Charge & Road Tax.
Congestion Charge
With congestion charge I would have thought this is using the roads in and out of the centre of busy places such as London and the charge was for you to be able to use the main roads in the centre of the city pretty spot on? Clogging up the roads in the main capital and that is why you have to pay and also for using the roads. I wonder how many other people think the same as me on that one? Pretty straight forward if you ask me.
BUT wait NO! Why is it that the following cars don’t have to pay the congestion charge…
- Electric Cars
- Hybrid Cars
- Alternative Fual Cars
- LPG Converted Cars
Doesnt make any sense what so ever.
Road Tax
OK this is what I think is meant by road tax, you pay a fee per 6 months or per year to use the roads, this then goes to pay to maintain the roads which is understandable.
But yet again NO! Apparently the Road Tax is baised on the ammount of emmisions and the size of the car? Why the hell call it road tax then? Why not emmissions tax or something along them lines. Yet again the following cars get Road Tax cheaper or in some cases don’t have to pay Road Tax.
- Electric Cars
- Hybrid Cars
- Alternative Fual Cars
- LPG Converted Cars
So let me get this straight, Electric cars, hubrid cars, alternative fual cars and LPG converted cars done have to pay the congestion charge, they also get cheaper or no Road Tax Charges…OK but surely if they are in a congested area, they must be part of the reason why the congestion charge is in place? So why do they get it free?
Congestion Charge should be called = Just another way for the Government to make money and charge us for stupid of things that don’t make sense.
Road Tax should be called = Emissions tax – at the end of the day this is what it is based on so why have the name Road Tax?
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A small point that might ease the confusion a little.
There’s no such thing as road tax.
I’ll give you a moment for that to sink in before going onto the longer explanation to the small point.
Seriously, I kid you not, road tax hasn’t existed since 1937. Nobody under the age of 90 or so has ever paid road tax.
It doesn’t have the name road tax because it isn’t a road tax at all. It is called Vehicle Excise Duty and is a tax upon certain categories of road-going vehicle held in certain categories of private ownership.
The money gathered through VED does not pay for the roads as such. At least, not any more than income tax, capital gains tax, alcohol duty, stamp duty, inheritance tax, VAT and so on pay for them.
The money goes into the “consolidated fund” (that is, a dirty great big pot of money that the government spends on whatever it spends money on).
Even if you assume the funds are ear-marked for the roads, the money raised through VED aren’t even enough to pay for the motorways and the few trunk roads maintained by the Highways Agency. The vast majority of road works, building and repair comes out of general taxation. (In fact, it all comes from general taxation, which includes VED, but you see what I mean, I’m sure.)
So, what’s really going on?
Well, you pay VED on certain road going vehicles. It is a tax on the vehicle, not a fee for road use. Once you have paid the duty on the vehicle for the year you can legally use it on the roads subject to other fees like the congestion charge.
VED doesn’t confer any sort of right to use the roads, (in fact, it only applies to vehicles used on the roads by licence, not by right) but it is a legal requirement for some vehicles to pay that duty before being used on public roads.
There’s no pretense that it is a universal vehicle tax.
Low emissions, anything registered pre-1973, royal vehicles, state owned vehicles, vehicles owned (or?) operated by foreign military and so on are not subject to vehicle excise duty.
Not a simple answer, but if you understand what it’s all about it takes all the confusion out of rights to the road, the naming of the tax and any idea of double-payment to use (C) roads at certain times in London.
Fun eh?
Really the confusion about the tax stems in no small part from the misnomer “road tax” which makes it sound like it’s something it is not.