MARCH 2009’s planned overhaul of road tax rates could be delayed in a Government U-turn, reports The Daily Telegraph.
The paper has learnt that the retrospective element of the increases, for cars made since 2001, will be scaled back.
Instead, the increases will be restricted to cars registered since 2006. And this exemption will be in place ‘for at least a year’.
If it is true, this will have unexpected consequences for dealers. It will mean interest in three-year-old stock could rocket, particularly larger-engined, higher-pollution machines.
These vehicles will be exempt from potential road tax rises of up to £245. The top rate will instead be capped at £200, little different to today’s rates.
The Telegraph says the plans are still being finalised by Chancellor Alistair Darling – and, crucially, it seems the big hikes in new car road tax, including the ‘showroom tax’, will remain in place. But the scaling back of the retrospective element will help offset the worst of the criticism surrounding the ‘green tax’.
As they were, the tax changes would have affected 70 per cent of the 26 million drivers on Britain’s roads.
The paper also reports comments from the AA, which said that older, higher-polluting cars costing up to £2100 would have become ‘almost impossible to sell’.
This is one we at Car Dealer will be monitoring closely, given how significant the effects of any changes could be…
