Edo

Just out of interest - one more thing added a few days ago to the long list of how the government tries to trap us in to fill its exchequer while intl: fuel prices havent even risen recently. Thats in addition to the road tax we already pay each year which goes up in every new budget anyway. And now both the govt: and the opposition is talking about road financing for building new roads i.e. imposing toll tax on roads.

By the way I have been told that this new tax will successively increase year by year until 2013. Imagine the cost of filling yoru car then!

AmyDavid

I have forgotten how it works in the UK - am I right in thinking that they set the new price for fuel at the Budget and then it comes into effect later in the year?

el_richo

Nope doesn't even blip on my radar for reasons for leaving.

Running a car doesn't look too much different cost wise when you compare UK and Canada.

Edo

eh? I thought the fuel was cheaper in Canada, and theres nothing called Road Tax or annual MOT.

dbd33

The distances are greater and the vehicles less efficient, that wipes out the difference in the price of petrol. Road tax is implemented via license plate stickers. The equivalent of the MOT is the Drive Clean program.

el_richo

^^^
What dbd33 says.

I'd also add insurance premiums can be much more than UK as well.

dbd33

And the cost of servicing, if you run a VW.

Edo

I see. Well, these politicians just seem to be too good with copying ideas from other countries and giving them logical terminologies to dupe their people. In other words, to generate more REVENUE.

dbd33

They need REVENUE. It's what pays for SERVICES.

Edo

Is SERVICES a more polite word for BENEFITS?

dbd33

No.

iaink

No, its clearing a shed load of snow off the roads every winter, and filling all the pot holes that creates in the summer

Anything you save on gas and road tax here is wiped out by the cost of insurance and the greater distances travelled Im afraid. New cars are cheaper to buy in general, but you pay sales tax on used vehicles, and the climate takes a heavy toll on vehicles here, so replacement is perhaps more frequent.


I cant imagine that fuel tax features high on anyones immigration radar, at least I dont think it should. Tax is a feature of life in any country, governments come and go, as do their tax regimes, but any changes are largely superficial because they all need revenue to pay for their programs, except the US who just seem to bankroll it on the defecit and pass the cost on to future generations

I will say that the drive clean program has very little in common with the MOT. A decent annual safety test would probably be a good idea here!

Making motoring more expensive is a successful environmental strategy, but would be political suicide here where outside of the few areas with a transit infrastructure we are all dependent on our cars. I still find it bizarre that my 1.8l Civic is regarded as one of the more efficient choices. I never had anything as large as that in the UK, but here its the smallest engine I've had yet, after a 4.0, then a 2.5!

fledermaus

You might be grateful for those benefits one day. Especially in Canada where job security is a vague notion.

Diggler

Im with you Edo, government fuel duty and road fund licence in the UK is way over the top. Unfortunatley there is nothing we can do about it.

Almost Canadian

There is: you can vote for a party that agrees to lower taxes. Of course, a few years after they get in, you will be complaining about lack of funding for the NHS, schools, civil servants, lack of benefits etc.

You pays your money and takes your pick