An official Government report has questioned the motives behind the new road tax system, saying that the current proposals are poorly explained and will only have a 'limited environmental benefit.’
In support of the findings of Parker’s recent survey – where eight-out-of-ten motorists were puzzled by the upcoming road tax law changes – the latest report by the Environmental Audit Committee slams the Treasury for failing to explain the new rules clearly enough.
‘The Treasury should have taken much greater care to explain the changes to VED in the Budget,’ it says.
‘A failure to advertise green tax details to the public… breeds suspicion about their objectives, increasing the perception of them as revenue raising measures with no environmental purpose.’
The Environmental Audit Committee also raised its concerns regarding the lack of ‘hard data about the financial impacts’ on families, disabled people and their carers, and other low-income groups.
When the changes come into force in April next year, drivers will have to pay up to £440 for their tax discs while some family cars have been made worthless by the new rules.
The committee’s report calls for the Treasury to do more to encourage drivers to buy a greener car.
It supports plans for a ‘car scrappage scheme’, where motorists are rewarded for swapping their high-emission cars with cleaner, low-CO2 alternatives, but wants other initiatives to be introduced to supplement the road tax system and encourage buyers to go green.
It recommends greater emphasis on the technological development of greener cars, an improved public transport network and incentives to promote car-sharing.
