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THE TAXATION OF COMMERCIAL MOTORS.

5th September 1922
Page 20
Page 20, 5th September 1922 — THE TAXATION OF COMMERCIAL MOTORS.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Views of Users Sought Upon the Retention of the Present Mode of Taxation or the Re-imposition, in Place Thereof of a Duty on Fuel.

IN VIEW of the fact that the question of alteration in the mode of taxing motor vehicles is, on the instructions of tho Minister of Transport, ' shortly to be inquired into by the Departmental Committee on the Taxation and Regulation of Road Vehicles, it has become important to learn the collective opinion of the great majority of commercial vehicle owners and users as to the most generally acceptable method that should be adopted for levying the tax.

Two widely divergent views are held, the favour with which each is regarded being dependent mainly upon the annual .mileage covered by the vehicles owned. If a vehicle can be kept constantly on the road, spending a minimum of its time in picking up and discharging its load (the motorbus and the longdistance motor coach are two good examples of this excellent method of keeping a vehicle employed), it will be less costly to pay the tax as an annual lump sum provided that the appropriate tax for the vehicle be less than the total amount of the duty on the fuel used in the course of the year would be. But if the total annual mileage be such that an import duty at the rate of, say, 6d. per gallon would work Out at less 'than a tax based upon seating capacity or unladen weight, then the less costly method must obviously be favoured by owners of Small-mileage vehicles.

It is desirable that the views of the commercial vehicle users upon this question should be ascertained and laid before the Departmental Committee at an early sitting, and to this end the Automobile Association and Motor Union has prepared a questionnaire which is this week being circulated direct amongst the members of its commercial vehicle section, and, in order to secure the widest possible expression of opinion, it has been decided to issue the circular through the medium of The Commercial Motor amongst. all commercial vehicle owners. • The circular will be found upon pages 37 to 40 inclusive

of .our advertisement supplement. . . • A plain issue is set out, and motor vehicles being taxed solely for the purpose of the maintenance and improvement of the highway, the question is which is the better—to pay the tax as and when one uses _ the roads, or to pay a lump sum in advance, not. knowing how often the vehicle may be idle, taxation by way of.a duty on motor spirit being regarded as the only practical way of effecting the former method.

The first portion of the form calls for details of the vehicles owned by the person who desires by its means to record his opinion. The details are required as for the first six months of the current year, and, so far as goods-carrying vehicles are concerned, what is asked for is the imladen weight and make of each vehiele, the total amount of tax paid for the half-year, the approximate total mileage for the same period, and, the average fuel consumption Of the vehicle. With regard to passenger-carrying vehicles, the same particulars are required, except that seating capacity is also asked for.. With these figures before them, the staff of the A. A. and M.U: will he able to show to the. Departmental .Committee whether the present mode of taxation works fairly or unfairly, so• far as a large number -of users are concerned, and, if uafairly, to what extent.

The second portion of the form contains the following questions, to each of which it should be Possible to reply with the minimum of trouble :— , I.—As an alternative to the present inequitable vehicle tax, would you support a system of taxation based on a flat-rate duty on imported motor spirit, which will graduate the individual payment in pro portion to the extent of road use?

2.—How many days in the week on the average are your vehicles in use?

a—Have you had any experience with paraffin or paraffin mixtures as a motor fuel in your vehicles?

If your reply is in the affirmative, kindly answer the following :—

(0) Do you employ any special type of vaporizer f (b) Does your engine require more attention in

the matters of carbon deposit and valves than.

with petrol?

(e) Do you employ a. hi-fuel system for starting up? (d) Does it affect the lubricating oil?

This question is asked in view of., the arguments of the authorities that when ordinary motor spirit was taxed; paraffin (on which no tax was imposed) was largely used as a substitute.

For the convenience of those who are willing to give their views at greater length, a page is provided in the form, as issued in this journal (rather less in the circular issued direct to members of the Association), and on this any general observations concerning motor taxation should be recorded. These views will be of particular value, because they will be individualistic, and the fullest advantage will be taken of them when the results of this plebiscite are placed before the Departmental Committee.


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