Tax hike on new cars ‘would simply be a revenue-raiser’

Tuesday 13th October 2009, 2:29PM BST.

Iain Carse A TAX on new vehicles aimed at cutting carbon emissions would just be a revenue-raising exercise, according to a garage boss.

Bougourd Ford managing director Iain Carse said taxing new vehicle sales would not help the environment.

‘The Environment Department should be encouraging people to change to less polluting cars rather than continuing to run around in their old ones,’ he said.

‘Fifty new cars produce less pollution than one 10-year-old car.’

Mr Carse (pictured) said that new-car tax – one of the options being explored – would show the department was not serious about the environment.

‘You are discouraging people from buying cars and you are encouraging people to use their old ones.’

The department wants to dissuade motorist from buying and using high-emission vehicles and has outlined some hypothetical policies in a consultation document.

These include a green tax on fuel at 50p per litre, or introducing a flat first-registration fee of £2,000 for any vehicle with CO2 emissions above 120g/km.

Others ideas include a sliding scale of first-registration of between £500 and £2,000, depending on the amount of carbon a car emits.

Subsidies for low-emission vehicles could also be investigated. Mr Carse said that cars in the Channel Islands caused only one third of carbon emissions and the rest was from domestic, industrial and air traffic energy use.

‘If they are only going to tax the motorist they are not tackling the environment If they are going down the route of raising revenue, let’s be honest and call it that,’ he said.

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1
GG

October 13, 2009 at 6:51 pm

Totally agree with Iain here, the States just want to use it for themselves, to fill the black hole. Paying money towards this, will not help the environment, but I also think Iain has made an error here, as a new car takes a whole lotta energy to be produced.

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2
Kay

October 13, 2009 at 8:34 pm

I would love to have a newer energy efficient, low emission car. However I don’t have the spare cash to buy one. Or maybe I should consider getting into debt to buy a newer model? My job is such that I can’t be without a car. Mr Carse, should the Environment Department help fund these new cars that you think they should encourage people like me to buy? I can only see one person profitting here….!

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3
John

October 14, 2009 at 4:13 am

Yep….just a way to raise money !! People will always buy cars no matter how much tax you add on. If Governments around the world are seriously concerned about the ENVIRONMENT then why don’t they ban the motor vehicle…..yeah right !! Let’s face it, this is just an excuse to raise more money. Taxing older cars (say over 10 years old) which polute the environment is one way to HELP address the problem but even this won’t save the planet. The problem with taxing older cars though will hit the lower paid as these are generally the people who can’t afford to buy new cars every few years.

At the end off the day, all the taxing in the world will not save the planet. It is mother nature which is warming OR COOLING the planet and nothing will stop the process. At one time the planet was covered in ice.

Any additional taxes which are raised by taxing fuel further and new cars….would this money buy trees for example ?

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4
Greenboy

October 14, 2009 at 11:18 am

How would increasing the price of fuel generate money from high polluting cars. After all, those people with a large engined car, could, and in most cases probably will, also have a low emissions 2nd car. They can just use that more than the higher polluting one does at present, and keep their entire overall costs the same.

However, our friendly taxi drivers, and everyone who only has one car, and can’t afford to replace it, will be hit by an ever increasing tax burden. So what seems like a way to prise additonal money off those who can afford it, under the ” aren’t we being green” pretence, kills the everyday person just trying to scrap by.

It would be far cheaper to ensure all light bulbs sold are economy bulbs thus reducing energy consumption across the island. That would be an eviromental plus with no downside to the local economy. Not to mention that the generator is clearly the cleanest way of producing that energy. Not like that Nuclear stuff, which pretty much emits water vapour. Or the new incinerator which is built to the latest standards from emissions point of view.

And look at what comes out the back of the fast ferries. I guess we could stop them too. I am sure the whole island will benefit from that lack of emissions when they stop coming.

The trouble with pretending to be green is just that. Pretence. Pricing out or preventing people from choosing an old 2nd hand car does not cover any issue with greeness. And buying a new car……what do we do with the old one? Look at all the energy used to create and ship the new car here.

I notice the full(!) buses are clean!!!!! They also want to reduce the subsidy to those. so in essence. pay more if you buy a new car, pay more if you keep an old car, and pay more if you use the bus or taxi.

Is there really an issue with emissions on this island? And would someone like to put up some facts to prove that those issues exists, and how it relates to the world wide impact. I am sure some developing nations would be glad to hear we have reduced our worldwide emissions by some factor, whilst they sling up new, inefficient factories to make cheap goods which they ship around the world!!

Increasing the price of fuel in the UK worked didn’t it? It increased overall costs for everyone, and what exactly did it do for its emissions?

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