JohnD
Party? What party?
https://www.ft.com/content/405467f9-c3cd-4b4d-bc48-2582890e7820
"Electric cars are to be subject to vehicle excise duty for the first time under measures to be introduced by Jeremy Hunt, the UK chancellor, in this month’s Autumn Statement.
People briefed on Hunt’s plans said that applying road tax to electric vehicles was the first sign of a chancellor “dipping a toe in the water” to address the fall in motoring tax revenues caused by the transition to battery-powered vehicles, as their owners also avoid paying fuel duty.
Last year the Treasury warned that “new sources of revenue” would be needed as the country switches to EVs. Fuel duty and VED raise about £35bn for the exchequer but the Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast that the growing share of electric car sales would cut motoring tax revenues by £2.1bn by 2026-27.
The introduction of excise duty, or VED, to electric cars could take effect from 2025-26, according to officials briefed on the plan, although the Treasury declined to comment on “speculation” ahead of the November 17 fiscal statement.
There are more than 1mn electric vehicles on UK roads, with annual sales rising exponentially. Around 15 per cent of the new vehicles sold so far this year run on batteries, according to the SMMT industry body. Current sales growth means there are likely to be several million battery cars on the road by the middle of the decade. Owners of most petrol and diesel cars pay £165 a year in road tax and continuing the VED exemption for the growing fleet of electric vehicles could cost the exchequer around £1bn a year by the middle of the decade."
"Electric cars are to be subject to vehicle excise duty for the first time under measures to be introduced by Jeremy Hunt, the UK chancellor, in this month’s Autumn Statement.
People briefed on Hunt’s plans said that applying road tax to electric vehicles was the first sign of a chancellor “dipping a toe in the water” to address the fall in motoring tax revenues caused by the transition to battery-powered vehicles, as their owners also avoid paying fuel duty.
Last year the Treasury warned that “new sources of revenue” would be needed as the country switches to EVs. Fuel duty and VED raise about £35bn for the exchequer but the Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast that the growing share of electric car sales would cut motoring tax revenues by £2.1bn by 2026-27.
The introduction of excise duty, or VED, to electric cars could take effect from 2025-26, according to officials briefed on the plan, although the Treasury declined to comment on “speculation” ahead of the November 17 fiscal statement.
There are more than 1mn electric vehicles on UK roads, with annual sales rising exponentially. Around 15 per cent of the new vehicles sold so far this year run on batteries, according to the SMMT industry body. Current sales growth means there are likely to be several million battery cars on the road by the middle of the decade. Owners of most petrol and diesel cars pay £165 a year in road tax and continuing the VED exemption for the growing fleet of electric vehicles could cost the exchequer around £1bn a year by the middle of the decade."
but
