Ok so I ordered a tax disc for the beater, via the interweb, and duly lost it.

This meant an interesting trip to my local DVLA office.

As I entered the large plush building, and took a ticket from the electronic queueing system, and duly sat down, looked at the 8 people working in there, something dawned on me.

Why the **** do we have this sort of car tax system in the UK??

Ok many of the queries in there were not tax related, but a lot of them are, and that soaks up a lot of resouce.

I started to wonder if the cost of maintaining the sytem, actuall made any profit.

It's just the whole system of tax discs is so antequated. You have a whole industry and hundreds of people who are employed to run and police it. Post offices spend a lot of time dealing with car tax too.

Then you have the rozzers who run around trying to catch you without it.

Computer systems monitoring to see if you have paid.

Paperwork / fines being generated if you don't keep your tax up to date.

And so it goes on.

I believe we are one of the only countries in Europe (if not the world) to use a paper displayed tax disc system?

Surely there is a better way...

 

Abolish road tax.

Put the tax onto petrol based on the average motorist driving an average car an average distance over the year.

This does away with the expensive to administer road fund license system...so saves money.

It means people driving more efficient cars, save.

People driving less (pensioners?) ....save.

People who drive inefficient cars pay more.

Everyone has to pay - VED evasion is impossible, foreigners using / wearing out our roads pay.

Can't see the problem with this system myself?

 

Ah! but think of the unemployment - and the compensation pension wise

 

The state then has less information and control over you.

If the reason were money, they would put it on fuel instead. This would result in probably getting more money (from the high milers esp) but also means great savings as they can sack a lot of the dvla. However, the unions would put their oar in.

That's the crux of it.

All other arguments for road tax have all been rather weak imo.

 

Probably the same reason Council tax isn't based per person.

Surely 4 people living in a house require more 'Council' than 2 people living in a house?

Ultimately, Dracoro is right IMHO - It's about control.

Can't let the Pulic think for themselves/do what the want - be dangerous that....

Hmm, I think we should ammend the Union Jack to include a Hammer and Sycle.

Actually, be a bad idea - we'd then get Patriotism Tax

 

I often wonder whether some of the things we pay for ultimately cost the company more than they make; train/tube tickets... tax etc. The amount of people and equipment and maintenance required to think of hte solution, implement it and enforce it must be huge!

 

Mark - When did you join the village people mate? :snigger:



I've always said we should do away with car tax and put a few more pence on petrol. That way NO one doesn't pay for it, and you don't need the infrastructure, people, computer systems, TV adverts etc to support it, and that's one less job for our already over stretched Police to deal with

 

Swiss system seems to have some merit. Low fuel taxes (ltr of SP98 currently less than a

 

Village people

Didn't think of that one!

 

Aw, bless - you're obviously too young to remember poll tax and the ensuing riots!

(Not that I disagree with you though - it seems to me to be an eminently fairer way of assessing the resources a household uses)