Rishi Sunak considers plan to tax motorists for every mile they drive to fill £40bn fuel tax loss left by an early switch to electric cars
Rishi Sunak is currently looking into plans to charge motorists in the UK for every mile that they drive on Britain’s roads, in order to fill the £40billion tax gap left as more people make the switch to electric cars, according to recent reports.
The Chancellor is said to have been ‘very interested’ in the idea of a new national road pricing scheme, which could steer motorists in the country into a new ‘pay-as-you-drive’ type of system.
A similar type of scheme had previously been dramatically shelved by the Labour Party in 2007 amid uproar that drivers throughout the nation could be charged up to £1.50 per mile.
This comes after a report that had been commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has said that the Treasury could potentially raise £14bn by increasing the country’s capital gains tax rates in order to bring them in line with the UK’s income tax.
Road pricing across England is currently limited to schemes such as the M6 Toll that is in place throughout the Midlands, the Dartford crossing on the M25, London’s Congestion Zone, as well as a handful of the nation’s small tunnels and bridges.
A national scheme is now being considered following fears that a switch to electric vehicles in the UK will leave a massive tax shortfall because of the hit to some of the key Treasury revenue raisers such as that of Fuel Duty tax and Vehicle Excise Duty tax, according to the Times newspaper.
It comes amid reports that the Prime Minister wants to accelerate his green plans, including bringing forward a proposed ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars in the country to the year 2030, as critics have claimed that Boris Johnson’s fiancee, Carrie Symonds, who is an environmental campaigner, is reportedly driving the push.
Charges to use certain stretches of roads throughout England are currently largely limited to the M6 Toll in the Midlands, as well as the Dartford crossing on the M25, while London has its own Congestion Zone
New guidance will say that students in the UK will be allowed to travel home for Christmas between the 3rd and 9th of December to make sure families can be reunited. Universities in England should stop all in-person teaching and will be reverting to online-only classes by early December, allowing students to return safely home for Christmas, the government has now said.
Road pricing schemes would be direct charges levied for the use of a road and would include tolls roads, as well as distance and time based charges and congestion charges.
The proposed plans could involve letting local areas set up ‘pay-as-you-go’ networks, with drivers being paid to have a black box installed in their cars so they could be monitored by the government using electronic tracking via roadside beacons or satellites.
