.Gov Petition for the Luxury Car Tax

[Obankster]

just a thought sorry if this has been discuseed - I’ve had a search on the petition government site and there is currently no petition set up for the luxury car tax for EV’s to be raised over the £40,000 threshold or even abolished for electric car owners.
Would somebody who is more eloquent and better with writing the English langauage than myself who is dyslexic, like to start a petition up? If we get 10,000 signatures the government will take notice.

https://www.gov.uk/petition-government

What are your thoughts?

 

[6502]

We, the undersigned, feel so passionately about the environment that we want to spend over £40,000 signalling our virtue. It's just not fair that the nasty government want to recoup almost half the plug-in-grant in extra road tax when we're only trying to preserve air quality for generations to come. Think of the children, and help our hardworking families to swan around in a luxury motor.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Personal view: It's either worth > £40k and you/we should pay the same tax, or it's not worth £40k and you/we should look elsewhere.

Can't have it both ways.

Luxury car tax has nothing to do with the car. It's a tax on wealth / disposable income. The exception/relief for EVs in the PiCG

 

[WannabeOwner]

The exception/relief for EVs in the PiCG

True, of course.

But to promote EVs we need 200+ mile range vehicles ... and they cannot realistically be made profitably without some Cash Cow elements (Luxury if you will)

Early days of PV ... panels were expensive, FITS were huge ... but you had to be able to afford the panels ... only the rich need apply.

Much cheaper to pay people to buy EV (any flavour) than fix the pollution of people not buying them.

Pay people to insulate their houses too ... get the money back however you like - long term low interest loan / on house sale / whatever.

I don't much care if only the rich benefit (but I am alert to all the arguments of Progressive Tax) ...

... partly because the more EVs that are sold today, the more 2nd hand ones there will be in 3 years time, and the less the pollution/CO2 etc. ... or the more self driving Tesla Ubers in 3 years time .. but they are even better (from pollution standpoint) as they will be driving 24/7 reducing pollution, instead of my paltry 30K miles p.a.

Here's my petition:

Take all the Luxury TAX off ICE vehicles and distribute it, pro rata, to EV buyers.

Simples

 

[Avendit]

Would be better asking for a more realistic reflection of environmental damage to be applied retrospectively, and keep the luxury tax (can't argue the Tesla isn't a luxury can we)? It is mad that my current car, at 170g/km of CO2 is cheaper to tax than a Tesla.

 

[arg]

(can't argue the Tesla isn't a luxury can we)?

Well, the government have decided on a threshold that a £40K car is a luxury.

But the point here is that if a £39,999 ICE is not a luxury, then neither is a £43K EV, since they have about the same overall cost.

 

[J1mbo]

I am happy to pay £310 per year now that I don't have to pay fuel duty.

 

[Fellsteruk]

Until thy find a way to add duty to our electricity used for cars lol

 

[Obankster]

Unfortunately there is not many 200+miles cars that you can get a hold off in next few months for that price. Even if they were to raise the threshold to £50k for EV’s. I’m in a position where my commute is a easy 100 miles a day and in to central london (ULEZ) at least 2 times a week.
I’ve been a massive advocate for electric the last couple of years. My 9 yr old euro 4 Audi A4 diesel has been a good work horse with over 150,000 miles and I do 20-25k miles a year. I do need to change it next few month as it’s getting very tired. I could easily go and pick up another Euro 6 diesel 2/3rds the cost of the model 3.
Though this is the top end of my budget and I am pushing it financially but for me this is a investment in not just my young children’s health and future but the planet as well. My carbon footprint isn’t not great with all the travelling I do. For me This isn’t not a luxury.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Until thy find a way to add duty to our electricity used for cars

Nah you are over-thinking it ...

Road Charging will take 3 years...

You will have saved 18p a mile in the meantime ...

... after that you will be riding in a Tesla Uber, and not having to own a car at all

... so no longer losing £20K a year on depreciation

... you will have Tesla Solar Tiles on your roof and Tesla will be buying all your excess electricity

... as a loyal Tesla Customer they will be charging you 1.5p a mile for Tesla Uber

 

[thegruf]

I think there is a wider point here that a £40K ICE is ...well a £40K car.
But a £40K BEV is a £30K Car which includes a £10K battery, effectively a down payment on the fuel for the life of the vehicle.

So following that argument it does not seem that unreasonable to apply a price differential to BEVs for this so called luxury tax.
(just so long as they dont do it for PHEVs that typically never/rarely bother charging)

 

[gangzoom]

Moaning about a 88p per day tax on a £40k luxury purchase when 50% of the UK have a HOUSEHOLD GROSS income of £22k......

Sorry guys but you need your world view adjusting to see how utterly ridiculous that move would be seen be majority of people in the UK.

 

[thegruf]

not moaning about the tax itself, but never cease to be amazed at the idiocy of implementing taxes with cliff edges which inevitably creates the farcical situations of no tax if it is £1 cheaper than a threshold and taxed if it is £1 over. The UK taxation system is full of such stupidities.
Taxes should have (simple) proportionality built into them as a matter of good practice.

The idiocy is exacerbated by the fact you can buy a pollution belching brake dust creating ICE for £39900, vehicles which cost the country billions and blight the health of the population, with this tax not applied; whereas an ultra clean (comparatively) full BEV for a few quid more attracts a substantial tax. This is precisely how not to encourage people into more environmentally responsible vehicles.

A sensible apprach to this would be to allow a discount to the tax proportional to the WLTP range of the vehicle for genuine zero emission vehicles.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Sorry guys but you need your world view adjusting to see how utterly ridiculous that move would be seen be majority of people in the UK

100% agree with you ... but at the same time I want maximum uptake of EVs in the UK as soon as possible. If Tesla would sell all they could make in the UK Island, because of incentives, we as a nation would be better off, even those on average income

Sorry, I have the soap box but not the answer ...

I'm astonished that the "Free Supercharging" is such a successful psychological marketing tool. Its less than a meal out once a year (OK, broad brush, anyone who only chargers there and has a use for their time whilst parked is doing OK out of it)

The EV Grant and Luxury Tax hit the same chords in peoples psyche

 

[Terry_B58]

The idiocy is exacerbated by the fact you can buy a pollution belching brake dust creating ICE for £39900, vehicles which cost the country billions and blight the health of the population, with this tax not applied; whereas an ultra clean (comparatively) full BEV for a few quid more attracts a substantial tax.

Unfortunately the Luxury Tax is nothing to do with emissions. I remember when a certain 'Value Added Tax' was introduced in the UK. This tax was originally for items of additional value over and above anything that was need to live. That very same tax now applies to almost everything.

The Luxury tax, is just a newer version of VAT, but this time (at present) is aimed at the automotive industry. Who knows what other items will come under this umbrella in the near or far future.

 

[thegruf]

Unfortunately the Luxury Tax is nothing to do with emissions...

True, but all (particularly new) taxation in the UK should factor in a sustainable environmental future. This can be done entirely sensibly without resorting to eco-extremism.

 

[WannabeOwner]

eco-extremism

Nicked!

 

[Terry_B58]

True, but all (particularly new) taxation in the UK should factor in a sustainable environmental future.

I fully agree but unfortunately Governments do not work that way . They Tax you and introduce new taxation on your carbon footprint, why only get you once when they can get you twice?

 

[ben_c]

Don’t forget you get £3.5k off the vehicle for the government grant, so even with the new tax you’re luxury car is effectively subsidised £1,950 by the government.