Road Tax

[timangus]

Just renewed the road tax for my strom. Blooming £101.00 this year. Pity we don’t have a government who want to really level up. Why is is many cars pay nothing or at most £30 based on when they were registered but bikes go up every year regardless.

[StromGeeza]

To be fair, it's a lot for many cars too, based on emissions. The worst polluters get to pay an initial rate based on emissions which could be up to more than £2k (!), then up to £520 for the next few years for the more expensive list price vehicles. It's an attempt I suppose to make the polluter pay/ charge the wealthy more, even if it's complicated.

If your motorbike tax is too much, consider lower cc or going electric. I suspect most on here would grumble but carrying on paying £100 a year, as compared to the total cost of ownership, it's not a big wedge of money...

But agreed, some in govt have been too busy dishing out whopping contracts to their business mates whose businesses are registered offshore so they pay feck all in tax to the UK Treasury, leaving everyday Joes like us to pick up the tab...   

[Fat Rat]

Whenever I hear suggestions of 'going electric' I almost scream.

It is such a non-viable solution for anyone who doesn't live in suburbia and only travels small distances.

[pieman53]

Just paid mine for 12 months at £110, wifes car 2 ltr diesol astra £120 were is the fairness in that?

[tonkie]

And they are thinking of reintroducing motor tax here 

[kwackboy]

It's criminal how motorcycles have to pay so much Road tax, when they cause zero traffic and less pollution than cars.

I always pay monthly via direct debit , it's a few £££ a year more but it saves me forgetting.

Just worked out my F800 is £106 and my CB500 is £76 ... rip off ..!!

[Barbel Mick]

Less than £10 a week? I spent double that in the pub this afternoon & I usually pay something like that amount on a breakfast (every now & then  ), a tank of petrol is pushing twice that amount & I'm happy to use all that on a day out. The TV licence is £159 per year, Sky TV or Virgin (not sure about BT TV) cost £50/60/70 every month! (& I know I get better value from the bike than I do watching the shite on the TV.
My fishing licences, for two clubs, are £60 each per year plus the rod licence £30 a year.   
I'm not saying the tax for motorcycles is right, but you get nothing for nowt nowadays.   

[StromGeeza]

It's not all gloom and doom chaps. Just had to 'pay' the tax on my old MG, the grand sum of £0.
And bracing myself for another similarly big bill next month to tax my electric car.
With the money I'm saving I can afford to tax my 2 wheelers...

[UK_Vstrom650]

Enjoy it while it lasts StromGeeza. Govt is introducing VED on electric vehicles from April 2025 

[Joe Rocket]

If you only ride a few weeks/months of the  year it's proportionally costly, but then you can sorn it for 6 months and not pay road tax....no?

Cars are different as you'll be paying your government lots of fuel tax anyway.

No road tax in France but I'm sure they still get their loot.

Edit. £4 to £5 for a pint of beer in a pub. Get some real comparison on value for money!

[StromGeeza]

Enjoy it while it lasts StromGeeza. Govt is introducing VED on electric vehicles from April 2025 

I don't think it'll be applied retrospectively, just on new car sales. But that's fine, we all benefit from the cleaner air.

[kwackboy]

My fishing licences, for two clubs, are £60 each per year plus the rod licence £30 a year

  a rod licence..?
Is there a training course on how to hold fishing rod..?.

[Brockett]

For licence think tax. That is what it is. The fact that the government both local and national will from time to time place conditions on the TAX licence such as age, qualification, social standing, etc. is by the by. A further deception in what we tend to call "road tax" is it's official name "Road Fund Licence" and of course as the tax is not hypothecated the government need not spend any of the money on the roads.  If the tax revenue was hypothecated then not only would the money be only spent on roads but the lighter users such as motorcycles could establish the right to a lower charge. However as that is not the case the government may adjust the tax in anyway they think fit. They could raise the licence fee tax  to £5000 per year in order to restrict motorcycle usage so as to reduce accident/ injury rates, preserve a quieter environment and ensure road users were limited to use in orderly lines of traffic with robotic speed control and lane discipline.   The time to 'fight for your rights' is before they are taken away. Maybe I should join MAG before the cycling lobby manage to outlaw all ICE vehicles.

[Upt North]

Only two certainties in life, death and taxes.
Just taxed the wife's car for 12 months = £20.00. It's a keeper.
Upt'North.

[UK_Vstrom650]

Isn't it Vehicle Exercise Duty (V. E. D.) rather than Road Fund Licence, and is supposed to be based on CO2 emissions hence electric cars being exempt (although no one cares how the electricity/batteries are produced)

I guess the more you use the bike, the better value your VED becomes so get out there and 

[SteveO]

Only two certainties in life, death and taxes.
Just taxed the wife's car for 12 months = £20.00. It's a keeper.
Upt'North.

And the wife? 

[Upt North]

She's passed the 38 year trial period......so maybe.

[Skiddy]

Years ago it used to be called Road Tax, then the tax bit was disguised as Road Fund Licence (RFL) and more recently its officially become Vehicle Tax which sounds a bit more honest 

[graingerblaze]

Road tax isn’t great buts it’s three fuel tanks, it could be so much worse. If you think what food now costs, fuel, holidays, DIY building materials… I would like it to cost less but it’s not a big bill in the grand scheme of things. As said before, best way to get over the cost is to ride lots and feel like your getting your moneys worth 

[TLPower]

With my 'bike I consider it as an enjoyment tax, when I'm on a decent stretch of road with my chums "making progress" and talking bollocks afterwards it's peanuts.