Been saying this for a long time, it is a much fairer system than the current one. One of the few NAFf policies that I fully agree with.
If heavy road freight paid RUCs more in line with the damage they do to the roads, then sure, but given their lobby paid for the National government that's not going to happen.
For people living paycheck to paycheck RUCs are a bill shock proposition so will mean many of them fall behind and inevitably start getting fined and dragged into the court system. The huge advantage of fuel tax is that its easier to administer, easier to enforce and far easier to pay as its just as you go.
Given an ever increasing amount of vehicles are either plug in hybrid or EV, this is probably the best way to do this.
It's also an election promise, and part of the coalition agreement, so not really a surprise.
I don't think electric is a problem in the current system, I think hybrid vehicles are the issue. Electric cars operate entirely in one system, but hybrids are across two systems with an unclear split.
We saw the government change their mind over RUC rates for hybrids due to pushback over what the rate should be, because they are split between two systems. And thatsthat'sonly the plugin hybrids. Non-plugin ones don't charge from electricity so are not under the RUC system, but use a lot less petrol than other petrol cars so pay less tax.
I agree this is not a surprise. It also should help the people claiming their tax back for off-road use of vehicles (I presume they won't need to do this paperwork anymore).
I do wonder if they are prepared for the debts and debt collection that will inevitably come from a system like RUC. You can't not pay petrol tax, you can just not pay RUC. As a RUC payer, I'd be keen for some system where it pays itself.
I wonder how they're going to manage the petrol companies from keeping the cost high and pocketing the extra once fuel tax is gone. Is the pricing breakdown of fuel freely available to the public?
Yes, the amount of excise added to fuel is public information.
Also, our fuel market is quite competitive, as long as you have one of the independent retailers in the area at least. Someone will be the first to move, and the others will follow.
The current system of excise tax rewards those with efficient cars (though not EVs) and penalises big polluters.
Unless this comes with an additional carbon/pollution penalty this is going to be great news for V8 Commodore drivers, and terrible news for everyone driving a Toyota Aqua.
In the mean time, salty EV owners get to pay triple the road tax per km that a petrol driven Prius does.
