Green Car Tax

Using the Car Tax to Encourage Green Cars

The United Kingdom recently announced the formation of a plan to encourage its citizens to purchase and use green cars. They will be offering citizens as much as £7500 in tax incentives funded by the government to purchase hybrid, electric or other green cars. The point of this program is to make purchasing and owning a green vehicle possible for the ordinary citizen. Previously many citizens were simply unable to afford these more expensive options. With the help of the government, they may be able to more easily purchase vehicles that will allow them to reduce their carbon footprint.

A Five Year Plan to Encourage Green Sales

According to the transport secretary, the incentives the government are offering will make electric car ownership a viable option for motorists. The government is hoping to make the United Kingdom one of the world’s leading countries with the lowest level of carbon based transportation. The incentives that have been unveiled are part of a £370 million plan to increase the green motoring ability of the country. These incentives are very similar to what other industrial countries like the United States have done and include money to build charging stations for electronic cars as well as other necessary infrastructure items that will be needed in order to develop a viable electronic or otherwise green, network of cars in the United Kingdom. These incentives will be available as soon as green cars, hybrid, electronic or otherwise become available for sale. Because less then .1% of the United kingdoms currently owned cars are considered green, the government believes there is an enormous market that will help reduce the carbon footprint of the entire nation.

Ongoing Environmental Concerns

This plan does offer an excellent opportunity to change the carbon footprint of Great Britain, but it is not enough to simply offer car tax incentives. There are several on going concerns that the government is currently researching. A great example of this is the current electric structure of the country. There are some real concerns that the current grid just would not be able to handle the additional strain of electric cars. The demands on the system would be overwhelming. When you take into consideration that the nations electric grid is actually is largest source of carbon emissions, it is clear that something must be done. It will be silly to encourage the use of electric cars if charging them will actually cause the very problem they are trying to elevate. Part of the incentive plan, in addition to tax incentives, is an allocation to address this problem.

Future Tax Incentives

The United Kingdom is considering other tax incentive methods to encourage the purchase of green cars by its citizens. This includes the possibility of “cash for clunkers” a program that has seen some success in other European Union countries. Under this scheme old cars with poor fuel economy can be traded in, with tax incentives, for newer, more efficient vehicles. While this tax incentive plan has not yet passed, it is under consideration and some reputable news sources consider it to be a likely eventuality.

The Green Car Tax

As an additional ‘incentive’ the government is choosing to tax families who do not have fuel efficient vehicles. Families will be charged as much as £1000 if they do not switch to a greener car. There will also be higher excise taxes and purchase taxes for high emission vehicles. It is hoped that it will simply become economically impossible to drive larger cars that have high emission rates. The government is hoping to drive its citizens to the only logical pick, green cars. They will do this by offering tax breaks to those who purchase the low emission vehicle and increasing taxes on those that do not. It is hoped that these practices will eventually lead most citizens to choose green cars with low emissions and high fuel economy.

The United Kingdom is well on the way to becoming a global leader in reduction of carbon emissions from cars. By offering tax incentives to people who choose to purchase green cars and by additionally taxing those who do not, it is becoming more and more economically feasible for the average citizen to purchase a green car. Finally, the government is offering additional incentives to car manufacturers to increase the production rate of hybrid cars. With these simple tax incentives, breaks and plans, Great Brittan is leading the wave of the future for use of green cars and reduction of the carbon footprint of its citizens.

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