Ricardo contributes to report on how electrification requires a new approach to motoring taxation

Ricardo is one of nine leading organizations representing fleets, motorists, the automotive industry, energy providers, and local government have contributed to a new BVRLA report: Road to Zero: time to shift gear on tax. The report is focused on the needs of the UK but has relevance to many nations with a similar vehicle fleet mix and system of motoring taxation.
 
Together, the report’s authors warn that the advent of increasingly connected, electric and shared road transport presents challenges and opportunities for future Government motoring tax policy.
 
They point to the impending decline in revenues from the current CO₂ emissions-based regime and highlight the potential for a new tax system that could help tackle transport priorities including urban air quality and congestion.  
 
The report reveals consistent findings and attitudes among its contributors, including:

• “No change” on vehicle tax isn’t an option: the consequences for drivers and the environment are too severe and the opportunities to seize are too great
• New technologies present an opportunity to develop a fairer and more sophisticated tax system that could be based on distance travelled, time of journey, location or air pollution
• Government taxes and incentives need to give fleets and motorists a clearer and more consistent long-term message that investing in plug-in electric vehicles will bring economic benefits
• The Treasury needs to protect future motoring tax receipts as drivers move to electric vehicles and CO₂ -based income declines – by up to £2bn per year
• The UK’s increasingly devolved transport policy has given cities and regions greater powers to impose local motoring charges and taxes. Local policymakers need greater national government support in designing and implementing these schemes so that they are both fair and consistent
• The way we are driving is changing – from ownership to shared use – and the tax system needs to keep up.

The BVRLA wants the report to stimulate a dynamic discussion between drivers, the automotive supply chain and policymakers about creating a tax system fit for the future. Launching the report today, the BVRLA’s Chief Executive, Gerry Keaney, said:
 
“Time to Shift Gear on Tax is the first report of its kind, bringing together a host of policy perspectives and ideas that all demonstrate the urgent need for vehicle tax reform. We thank all our partners for their brilliant contributions.”
 
To see the full press release issued today by BVRLA visit use the document download link on this page, or to download a copy of the report visit https://www.bvrla.co.uk/resource/it-s-time-to-shift-gear-on-motoring-tax.html