Will Traditional Motorists Face A New Tax?
UK drivers could soon face a £700 annual road toll!
Since the arrival of electric cars, there has been a drop in fuel duty payments. All electric cars do not need to pay any fuel tax, which is great for them but has a considerable effect on the fuel tax income for the government, which brings in almost £30 billion each year.
To plug the financial gap left by electric car drivers, the government will need to find new ways to increase its income, one of which could be to bring an increased number of road tolls nationwide.
Drivers of petrol and diesel vehicles currently pay 57.95p of tax per litre and with the average motorist clocking up 7,800 miles every year, this totals an annual fuel duty bill of around £1,000.
Other options for the government for filling the financial gap would be to introduce a mileage-based charge system, billing drivers 7.5p for every mile by 2030, increasing to 9.1p by 2040, when the ban of the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in the UK will be brought in. Should these introductions come into effect, motorists of petrol and diesel cars could expect to pay an additional £700 a year by 2040.
New electric car sales are on the increase, with sales reaching almost 5,000 per month this year alone. They may be more expensive to purchase, but the running costs are considerably lower, costing an average of just £4.50 to fully charge up and are therefore becoming a more viable option for more and more motorists, especially if further taxes or tolls are going to be levied against traditional petrol and diesel drivers.