I've just got my renewal for Road Tax through £140!!! This country is getting ridiculous, I think we live in a country that has just simply getting worse & worse. I am currently banned from driving due to being caught speeding 12 points in 3 years (No excuses I was, & I have paid my fine & am serving my ban) My main gripe is I have looked on the DVLA website & it seems that by serving my ban & paying the fine is not enough, I am also going to have to pay the government another £60 to get my license back! (its only £45 for a new one) It seems that you get charged for everything in this country.
Never looked into comparisons really, it seems like a lot of the 'well run' places in Europe and Scandinavia in particular pay higher taxes than we do. It does FEEL like we're taxed a lot, and it doesn't feel like we get a fair return on that money a lot of the time. For example, the roads here are getting worse and worse, but my road tax is going up and up.
Thats my point, things seem to always go up, but things never seem to improve greatly. Your absolutley right about the roads in this country, its a nightmare & i can only see it getting worse. The fact we have so many people living in the UK is not going to help matters. I think that many countries in Europe have it right by not paying road tax but just pay for the roads when you drive on them. The system works great and the roads are great fun, but I don't think it would work in this country tho due to the sheer number of people who live here. I think Road Tax is the tip of the Iceberg tho really, we pay greater tax on other things & like you say we don't see any drastic improvements.
Dread to think your moan when your insurance renewal comes through. 12 points in 3 years?? thats a joke! cue the "I was unlucky" reply!!
as far as the tax... I wish I was paying £140! YES I hate paying road tax, I really do! mainly because you never really see where its spent! but our road tax system is very fair to be honest you want a flash car.. you pay higher tax! and as others have said... its cheaper than some other countrys!
If the road tax system had stayed as it was before they had changed it you would have been paying a lot more! I would aim more of your anger a fuel prices if I were you!
If you think your Road Tax is being well spent then here's a snippet from my local paper yesterday.
Would like to know just where is our money going. Wouldn't mind paying this amount if the system worked or perhaps they just filled the potholes!!
Sorry it's a bit long, you haven't got to read it all .
Repairs to roads in Hemel Hempstead and the rest of Hertfordhshire have been dealt a big cash blow for the coming year it is claimed.
In a statement this week Herts County Council says a recent announcement from the Government shows that they will make no contribution to road maintenance in Hertfordshire under next year's Local Transport Plan (LTP).
"It is well understood that Hertfordshire does not get back a fair share of our national taxes which leads to higher council taxes and under-funded services," says Robert Gordon, Leader of Hertfordshire County Council. "But this is yet another blow to the hard-pressed road users and taxpayers of Hertfordshire.
"Most LTP maintenance has been funded by the county council but, until now, government has also contributed either a cash grant or picked up some of the cost of borrowing money for road repairs. In 2004/05, this provided £9.3 million but it has been reduced year on year and stands at just £4.5 million in the current year. Next year it will be nil.
"I am the first to say that some of Hertfordshire's roads and footpaths are not in a fit state," continues Robert Gordon, "but it's simply because we do not have enough money to do the job. We get good value for the money we do have and the £4.5m being taken from Hertfordshire next year coul
d have surface-dressed around 60 miles of road and planed and resurfaced a further six miles.
"Over the last two years, we have squeezed every other budget to fund an additional £20 million pounds spending through the Highways Extra programme and it has made a big difference on the ground. But we cannot go on making good government cuts at the expense of other services.
"To make good this cut through the council tax would put yet another one per cent on the increase and Hertfordshire's taxpayers already have to pay too much. I cannot yet predict the final budget outcomes but this government cut can only make things worse."
Yeah.. I can't believe it...cheaper to run than my MINI ONE, cheaper to tax than my MINI ONE, cheaper to buy than my MINI ONE.....alright ...perhaps the last one isn't entirely true
Still.......BARGAIN
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DS R56 MCS + JCW AERO KIT 
i have a 1972 mini cooper its tax exempt and its got a 220 bhp honda 20 engine fitted..
i beat mr brown!! 
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