In New Zealand, heavy vehicles and all road vehicles running diesel engines
must pay a pre-paid user charge, based on mileage. The owner nominates how
many km's worth they wish to buy in advance and the recorded mileage must
not exceed that value. Heavy vehicles (including heavy trailers) must run a
hubodometer.
The rate charged is based on weight and the number and type of axles,
basically the more weight on a tyre, the more is charged per km. Diesel
itself attracts no road tax as it is used in many applications outside of
road use, whereas petrol is basically for cars and a tax (well several
types) is added in to the pump value.
The petrol side is more user friendly (no administration), but the diesel
version (RUC) is more fair based on the actual wear and tear to the road
caused by heavy vehicles. Our diesel Citroen is still cheaper to run,
despite the RUC, than all but the most miserly (read small) petrol car.
The fact that all road tax take goes in to the consolidated fund, rather
than a road specific fund is another matter - but I won't go there...
David Greed
1974 Stag Man O/D
1979 2500S Man O/D
1997 Citroen Xantia Turbo Diesel
Email: Home: greed@wave.co.nz
Work: david.greed@telecom.co.nz
Webpages: http://www.wave.co.nz/pages/greed
.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pete & Aprille Chadwell" <pandachadwell@mac.com>
To: "R. Ashford Little II" <ralittle2@mindspring.com>; "Triumphs Mailing
List" <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, 12 January 2002 10:11 AM
Subject: Re: Ad Valorem taxes and stupidity
> >So it's time to pay the ad valorem taxes on my cars, but I received a
> >notice to call the local tax commissioner to compute the tax on my TR6.
> >I try to call them.six times before I have the privilege of being put on
> >hold for 35 minutes. Finally, a voice appears on the other end and asks
> >me "what did you pay for your car?" Without thinking too much and being
> >basically honest, I replied "5,000 dollars" (which isn't exactly right
> >either) and was promptly told my bill was $107.04. I'm still trying to
> >figure out the answers to two questions: one, what do they do will all
> >the tax money and two, why I didn't reply "oh, maybe a thousand."
>
> Ashford:
>
> I'm fortunate to live in a state that doesn't base its vehicle
> registration fees on what I may have paid for a car. In Oregon,
> vehicle registration is a little over $30 every two years (last I
> checked) whether you have an old beater or a brand new Ferrari.
>
> And since I live in Oregon, I can easily say that if they asked me
> what I paid for anything I have in my possession, car or otherwise,
> I'd tell them it isn't any of their damned business. State
> governments only do this because state residents (voters) allow them
> to. That any state bases its registration fees on what a particular
> car costs is incredibly offensive to me, as what a car costs has
> nothing whatsoever to do with the extent to which each car
> contributes to wear and tear on roads etc. If I own a Mercedes, why
> should I pay more than the guy next door who might own a Honda? My
> Mercedes (as if I own one) doesn't 'use' the roads any more than his
> Honda. The mentality is basically one of class envy. That guy has a
> better car than mine, and obviously has more money than I do, so
> let's hit him harder with the registration fees.
>
> The governor of Oregon has recently floated one idea of basing the
> fees upon vehicle mileage for each year. Generally speaking, I
> vehemently disagree with most of what spews forth from Kitzhaber's
> mouth, but I have to admit that this idea has some merit, since the
> more miles you put on your car, the more you are USING the state's
> infrastructure. That seems to make some sense to me. I hope Oregon
> never falls into line with the other states' ill-conceived
> registration fee structure.
>
> End of rant.
>
> --
> Pete Chadwell
> 1973 TR6
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