EV fuel duty benefit to mobo users?

[EugeneR]

The move to "per mile" charging for electric vehicles was easily foreseen. I feared a more intrusive device that incorporated time of day, tracking where we drive, etc but the principle is now being established.

It seems rather obvious that, over time, this will extend to all cars. There may well be no incremental cost to doing so, so it should - unless we have a thieving government - result in the total removal of fuel duty.

Could this result in a reduction in fuel cost for MOBOs, perhaps?

If road use is tracked via the vehicle rather than the pump, there should be no longer a justification for taxing fuel. It would be a logical way to reverse the damage done to comply with EU demands when the 60/40 split was brought in. Under a per-mile road system, everyone at the pump would pay the same (zero) fuel duty.

Crucially, this would also remove the need for red diesel and the entire reporting / compliance overhead. No more declarations at the pump and no more paperwork for the marinas. We aren't using the road, so we shouldn't contribute to it.

A counter-argument might be a small element of environmental penalty - but logically, we’re at sea, not on land. There are also other use cases I am not familiar with although many are already exempt?

To be clear for the mods: this isn't a post about EVs, Brexit or politics. It’s about the future of duty paid on MOBO fuel, given current changes.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

…it should - unless we have a thieving government - result in the total removal of fuel duty.

Could this result in a reduction in fuel cost for MOBOs, perhaps?
…

Not a chance. This is incremental tax revenue, the likelihood of the existing levy being removed with the resultant loss of 25bn of tax revenue (current year’s figure approx) is nil. IMHO of course.

 

[EugeneR]

Not a chance. This is incremental tax revenue, the likelihood of the existing levy being removed with the resultant loss of 25bn of tax revenue (current year’s figure approx) is nil. IMHO of course.

Is it incremental, or is the per-mile levy a replacement for the billions they’re losing on fuel duty for EVs?

It'd be the same for non-EVs: The per-mile
charge "should" be set to bring in the same amount as fuel duty today. Just a lot easier to admin, and would (rightly) then not apply to us boaters.

Given they're doing this for EVs already + most people don't know their "duty per mile" today i.e. easy to set a higher number + large admin savings, i'd say its an easy way to increase revenue?

 

[Bouba]

I think if any country removed all fuel duty...it would start a wave of fuel smuggling. Besides, government adds tax...not remove it

 

[benjenbav]

Doesn’t fuel duty result in a variable mileage charge for ICE vehicles?

I’m sure that HMG would have added duty to electricity to raise money from EV use if it wasn’t for the fact that, to do so would either require more complex/intrusive monitoring than a mileage charge or would put up the price of domestic energy for voters who would not like that being done to them.

 

[dunedin]

The move to "per mile" charging for electric vehicles was easily foreseen. I feared a more intrusive device that incorporated time of day, tracking where we drive, etc but the principle is now being established.

It seems rather obvious that, over time, this will extend to all cars. There may well be no incremental cost to doing so, so it should - unless we have a thieving government - result in the total removal of fuel duty.

Could this result in a reduction in fuel cost for MOBOs, perhaps?

If road use is tracked via the vehicle rather than the pump, there should be no longer a justification for taxing fuel. It would be a logical way to reverse the damage done to comply with EU demands when the 60/40 split was brought in. Under a per-mile road system, everyone at the pump would pay the same (zero) fuel duty.

Crucially, this would also remove the need for red diesel and the entire reporting / compliance overhead. No more declarations at the pump and no more paperwork for the marinas. We aren't using the road, so we shouldn't contribute to it.

A counter-argument might be a small element of environmental penalty - but logically, we’re at sea, not on land. There are also other use cases I am not familiar with although many are already exempt?

To be clear for the mods: this isn't a post about EVs, Brexit or politics. It’s about the future of duty paid on MOBO fuel, given current changes.

Did you respond to the Department for Transportation consultation on Decarbonisation of Small Craft last year?
MOBOs have had a free ride environmentally for decades, but with other sectors getting cleaner attention is starting to move towards recreational craft.
So I would expect the opposite to occur in due course.