The current system of road tax in Ireland is way out of touch with todays digital world.
Sure I understand the government needs to raise revenue but the road tax system is a hugely carbon heavy way to do so.
Here is a way road tax can be abolished and yet with no loss in revenue to the exchequer.
First of all we have all heard the mantra of the polluter should pay. Road tax does nothing to achieve that.
Furthermore the carbon footprint required to get a paper tax disc on to your car windscreen is staggering!
Think about this! The disc needs to be made from paper, which is transported in trucks (carbon emissions ) to a printer where they are printed (more emissions) then transported in another vehicle to the local county council motor tax office (more emissions). Here we then have an office full of staff administering the collection and payment of the road tax, heat light etc (more emissions). Then the disc is either collected by someone who drove to the motor tax office (more emissions) or its put in an envelope ( more paper) and posted (now in another truck or van) to be delivered to your door! Then! You have to go and buy a nasty looking plastic (more emissions in its production and distribution to shops) tax disc holder to put it on your windscreen.
How ridiculous is all that? Just think about the real carbon footprint let alone the cost of getting that paper disc from zero to your car windscreen? Its absolutely absurd! I wonder in reality how much each little tax disc really costs when you include all of the above? Further a piece of paper stuck to a windscreen is no proof a car is taxed or insured. There are fakes going around too!
So whats the solution?
Well in one fell swoop its get rid of the tax disc just as the UK has done.Taking this a step further would be even better. Get rid of road tax altogether and replace a with a levy on a litre of petrol and diesel. The government knows how much is collected annually in road tax. Simply add the average annual road tax revenue to average annual fuel sales and there will be no loss of revenue to the exchequer. Other countries operate such a system. Furthermore almost overnight you cut out all the cost and carbon footprint generated that goes into making, posting, and administering road tax. Another benefit is that valuable Garda resources are no longer required to police road tax. Its simply the more you drive the more fuel you use and therefore the greater your proportional contribution will be to ‘Road tax”. The motorist is paying according to how much they drive, its fair, needs no administration, no office staff, no policing, and wipes out a huge cost and carbon footprint of producing paper tax discs. Why are we stuck in the dark ages producing a paper disc to stick on a windscreen.
Frankly the NCT disc and Insurance discs should be done away with too for the same reasons. With Garda number plate recognition systems in wide use now they know immediately if your car is insured or has a valid NCT. Why do we need a piece of paper on the windscreen?
Let’s move on to the future and think outside the box. The government need to look at these motoring issues if they are serious about achieving our emissions targets!