Gas-guzzlers face surge in road tax

Here’s a golden opportunity for the Government to raise even more money from beleaguered motorists. A leaked Treasury paper – which has been circulating in Westminster – has revealed that Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is looking to introduce an extra ‘purchase tax’ on models with high CO2 emissions.

This would see as much as £2,000 added to a car’s price or increase its first year’s VED by up to £1,300. The new levies could be introduced as soon as Darling’s first Budget in the spring.

The scheme, aimed at discouraging buyers from choosing luxury, performance and off-road vehicles, will see a new top band introduced for models emitting more than 254g/km of CO2.

All cars in this category – including the entire Range Rover line-up, all Porsche 911s and most versions of the Mercedes S-Class – would be hit by the proposed £2,000 levy.

There is some good news for drivers of green vehicles, though. The paper suggests that buyers of models which emit less than 100g/km of CO2 will receive a rebate of up to £2,000. At present, only electric cars such as the G-Wiz and the Volkswagen Polo 1.4 TDI BlueMotion are under that figure.