We already pay per mile through fuel duty. It might work if that tax was scrapped. The idea is to get some more money to fill the black hole whereby EV drivers don't pay fuel duty so taxing them and everyone else per mile would help fill the coffers. Of course it means more cameras and more surveillance...but we are used to that now.
However, the whole EV thing is going to crash and burn in the not too distant future...sales are down, second hand prices have tanked and some major manufacturers have withheld launch of new models due to lack of demand. I fear for those who have based their business on installing
chargers. Of course the tech will improve, but meantime the high initial cost puts off private buyers. It's fine if your company gives you an EV on lease because the incentives and tax breaks are worthwhile and after 3 years you just hand it back and the second-hand value doesn't matter, but leasing companies will have to respond with higher charges...and try to find a way of getting rid of their stock of returned vehicles.
If Ev users charge at home, they pay 5% vat on the electricity they use, if they charge out on the road or at work they pay 20% vat on the energy they use.
the energy providers, generators and distributers all pay corporation tax and vat on there earnings so the government do get their cut already.
so lets take a guess at a couple of things.
say I spend £100 charging at a service station
Vat at point of sale has £20 leaving £80 that I have spent
I am guessing that most of the companies involved would make around 5% profit from there part of things (could be a mile out but lets just see)
chargepoint supplier company
receive £80
pay £16 VAT
receive £15.20 from VAT
make a £4 profit and pay 25% corporation tax (£1)
so in total they pay £1.80 in tax
leaving £78.20 to pay the electricity supplier
electricity supplier company
receive £78.20
pay £15.64 VAT
receive £14.86 from VAT
make a £3.91 profit and pay 25% corporation tax (£0.98)
so in total they pay £1.76 in tax
leaving £76.44 to pay the electricity generator
electricity generator company
receive £76.44
pay £15.29 VAT
receive £14.52 from VAT
make a £3.82 profit and pay 25% corporation tax (£0.96)
so in total they pay £1.73 in tax
the national grid have to distribute this electricity and it is likely that there part also generates some tax, lets assume it is £1.50
so I spend £100
Direct VAT £20
Tax 1 £1.80
Tax 2 £1.76
Tax 3 £1.73
Tax 4 £1.50
Total Taxation is in the region of £26.79
Therefore, the existing taxation system will take over 1/4 of what I pay to fuel my car already and of course I have had to pay tax on the money that I earned to buy it in the first place.
I do agree that a road tax per mile based on the environmental impact and wear and tear on roads would be a fairer system.
however, HGV probably do 10x the wear and tear per mile on the road than any car / van
They will never end up paying 10x as much per mile as we do as it would destroy the business model of most haulage companies.
as we know, government incompetence will prevent any self reporting mileage/tax payment from working efficiently.
quite rightly so, the public would be in uproar if we all had to have a gps Taxation device fitted in our cars to monitor mileage.
you could do it at every MOT, when the mileage is checked, you pay your £45 for the test and an additional charge for the tax of mileage.
the 3 year before 1st mot issue could be sorted easily as it would just be a mileage check with no physical check.
however, how many people do you know that would be incapable of budgeting for that expense once per year?
per mile taxation could be a lot fairer, (would cost me a fortune) however it is an idea that has so many hurdles to implement that I doubt they will be able to do it.
