Motorists Face a New Tax
According to The Mail on Sunday,
The EU and Government already have in place a “pay-as-you-pollute” plan. To this they will be adding a carbon charge. The goal is to help the country reduce the amount of carbon dioxide, which is greatly caused by cars and lorries. A Department of Transport report says that this new tax could be in place by 2013. It may even combine with other forms of intervention such as fuel duty.
The ultimate goal is to have motorists change the way in which they drive. Hopefully this will cause them to drive less and more carefully therefore reducing fuel. Hopefully they will also begin to buy cleaner cars.
Petrol retailers are warning that there is no limit as to how high these taxes could get. While consumers are already paying 97p a litre at the pumps, 70p of this is the tax. They are also paying up to 300 pounds a year in road tax. This could be lower depending on the car’s emissions.
There are two ways the new tax could be put into effect. The first is that there could be more tax on fuel. Petrol companies would be given a CO2 allowance depending on how clean their fuel is. The other option is to target the motorists themselves. Motorists would then also be given a set allowance for CO2. Motorists with cleaner cars and did not use their total allowance could sell their credits to other drivers who need the credits. Every time a consumer were to purchase fuel, credits would be taken off the allowance. Once the allowance ran out, more credits would need to be purchased.