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Kilometer tax again centre stageMonday 25 January 2010 The government's plans to introduce a kilometer tax are again in the spotlight on Monday with the country's biggest newspaper and the ANWB motoring organisation both carrying out polls to test support for the measure. So far, over 100,000 people have taken part in the ANWB survey while a similar number have voted in the Telegraaf poll. The results so far are still under wraps. Last week, transport minister Camiel Eurlings said ANWB members' support would be crucial for the continuation of the scheme. The organisation has some four million members. Politicians However, its director Guido van Woerkom told the AD on Monday that Eurlings is going too far to effectively letting his members decide government policy. The ANWB is only concerned with making recommendations and publicising concerns, he said. 'Ultimately, politicians will decide,' he told the paper. Eurling's Labour and ChristenUnie coalition partners have also criticised his position. 'The minister knows extremely well it is up to the minister,' Labour MP Lia Roefs said at the weekend. 'Letting ANWB members decide something instead of democracy? It does not work like that, minister,' said a ChristenUnie spokesman. Faith Van Woerkom told the Volkskrant on Monday that many people do not think the government is capable of introducing such a major project as a kilometer tax on driving. 'If l talk to members, read internet blogs and letters in newspapers, the majority appears to mistrust the government,' he said. 'There is no faith in the leadership of this country and that is a very worrying development,' he said. People believe they will end up paying more and they believe the tax will infringe on their right to privacy, he said. And they do not believe the government is capable of bringing in such a project on budget. Woerkom pointed to the major problems associated with the launch of the Betuwe freight railway line, the high speed train link with Brussels, the new Amsterdam metro and the introduction of the public transport smart card. 'That [the smart card] was not supposed to cost people more but it has done,' he said. Opinion poll According to a Maurice de Hond opinion poll on Monday, some 45% of the Dutch oppose the introduction of the kilometer tax and 42% are in favour. In November, 55% of those polled backed the plan. If the legislation is eventually passed by parliament, motorists will start paying tax on every kilometer they drive, which the government hopes will reduce traffic jams and pollution. The tax will be higher during the rush hour and for more polluting vehicles. To make sure motorists are not worse off, road tax will be scrapped and the purchase tax on new cars will be reduced. Some 60% of drivers will be better off, the government claims. Each car on the roads will be fitted with a GPS device which will use satellites to monitor where and when the car is driven and send the information to a central billing point. Do you support the introduction of a kilometer tax? Take part in our poll © DutchNews.nl
The real problem is that buying a car in the Netherlands is 30-40% more expensive then in Germany, France, and Belgium. By Domenico La Camera | January 25, 2010 11:39 AM "To make sure motorists are not worse off, road tax will be scrapped and the purchase tax on new cars will be reduced. Some 60% of drivers will be better off, the government claims."
By bobsocks | January 25, 2010 1:30 PM The government seems hell-bent on getting the Km tax through. It's a clever manipulation.. abolishing road tax. Sounds great.. until you actually do the math. The bottom line is the average motorist (30,000 km/year) will pay 4 to 5 times more tax on his travel than he already pays now. And loses his freedom with it as every journey is logged by big brother, every time a speed limit is exceeded, every fine the system can hit you with. It is a sad fact of life that many people allow themselves to be 'bought' by this governemt scam.. never forget that what a government gives with one hand, it usually takes much more away with the other. By Andy | January 25, 2010 3:35 PM First, I trust the government as far as I could throw it (buildings and all). I mean, government is just made up of people, lazy and inefficient people if you look at most government officials. I hardly expect them to be very good at protecting my privacy. And its data that I just don't want them to have, I mean, take it to the illogical conclusion, a GPS collar or bracelet, so you pay a "pavement tax" for walking on the footpath at peak times. No way. "To make sure motorists are not worse off, road tax will be scrapped and the purchase tax on new cars will be reduced. Some 60% of drivers will be better off, the government claims." Well, we all know 76% of all statistics are made up on the spot, but at least try to hide it by not using big round numbers, they are less effective by 87.54% By Kris | January 25, 2010 3:59 PM Dutch government they must be out of their minds. If car manufactures are now making more and more cleaner cars why do they want to come with this stupied idea? This really to impossibilitize more poor pleople and leaving all car users with no right of privacy. What a shame on this government. By Ricky | January 25, 2010 3:59 PM With the chipcards in the public transport and the would-be tracking devices installed on the cars, this government is pushing for total surveillance over the people's live. Note that they never talk about this in public. Instead they throw bullshit like "it will be good for the society, blah, blah". Nobody so far has tried to live under such a surveillance. Why should the Dutch be the experimental bunnies? It is up to the voters to decide if they want control freaks like christian branded parties to take over their lives... By George | January 25, 2010 6:51 PM This will mean we will be not able to pay for our trips by car as well as public transport. We will be prisoners, the taxes will be so expansive. This is the plan for the EU as well as US. By Madonna | January 25, 2010 8:22 PM I find it interesting that while most of the comments here object to the way GPS invades privacy, the reader poll accompanying this story does not allow a response objecting to this issue. By DPratt | January 25, 2010 8:34 PM What's all the hype about? You all carry a GPS tracker in your mobiles anyway. As far as road tax goes, it works already. Why fix it if it already works? By stevie | January 25, 2010 11:29 PM The views expressed here go to show you how narrow-minded and ill-informed most people are. The current road tax is a joke. I pay a relatively low fee and can drive as much as I want? What sort of economic sense does that make? Do you allow your employer to work you as much as he wants for a fixed rate? Neither the road tax, nor the fuel tax provide the desired changes to driving behaviour (e.g. when, where, how). The next best thing is to make drivers pay for the cost of their 'road consumption', and this cost should include a cost for clogging up the roads during rush hour, and for environmental damage...not just repairing or providing roads to drive on. Paying and knowing that you pay higher/lower rates depending on the type of car you drive, how often you drive, and when you drive makes perfect sense if your intention is to limit or manage the number and type of cars on the road. I will concede that the gov't should rethink the use of the GPS-in-car approach, and they should also provide better details on how they will ensure the public transport system will handle the extra demand. Subsidies to lower income individuals should be provisioned, but only via the public transport system: Driving is not a right, but reasonably affordable public transport should be. Personally, I know that I will pay a hell of a lot more than I do now IF I continue to drive in the manner I do now, but I also know this is the right thing for us all to do. By Canadian;) | January 26, 2010 7:33 AM
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My concern is on two fronts. Firstly I am not in favour of pricing as a way of forcing people to find alternatives. Generally that just means those people less able to pay will suffer just to allow the wealthy to have a more comfortable drive to work.
But perhaps my biggest complaint is that I do not want some government device in my car reporting my every movement to some official. I realise that gantry cameras can already do this but this is another step in the Orwellian direction of the state controlling us completely.
By Nick | January 25, 2010 10:25 AM