>It is from the British Government's Treasury Department (not well-known
for
>generosity towards British motorists). The document is dated November
1998 and
>at Section 4.11 it states:-
>
They are not generous as the policy stated rises, above inflation, on
fuel costs more than accounts for it plus several millions.
>"Historic Vehicles
>Vehicles made before 1 January 1973 are exempt from VED (Vehicle Excise
Duty)
>(ie annual road tax) as part of the national industrial heritage. The
300,000
>(Yes, 300K) vehicles benefitting from this exemption merit separate
>consideration. While, in principle, the exemption of old vehicles from
Vehicle
>Excise Duty is not strictly compatible with an environmentally-based
VED
>system, it is accepted that many vehicles in this "historic" tax class
are
>well maintained, cover a low annual mileage, and they consequentially
do not
>make a significant difference to overall pollution levels. It is
proposed,
>therefore, to maintain the current exemption."
>
This was a subtle but significant change insofar that at its inception
it was a rolling 25 years back, when all the tarted-up old dogs hit the
roads somebody noticed the potential huge loss of revenue and hence the
significant change to freeze it at 1 Jan '73, then 25 years back from
1998.
The rest is political weasel words to appease the burgeoning greeny vote
whereas in fact with fuel over $5/gal most of us cannot afford or
justify more than about 200 or 300 miles/year in a sub 10mpg OD device.
Go at it with the NH spoil-sports, good luck.
Richard
(Southampton UK)
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