DutchNews.nl - CDA buries kilometer tax, for now at least

The Christian Democrats have abandoned their support for the kilometer tax on motoring as proposed by transport minister Camiel Eurlings but will include a revised proposal in their election manifesto, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Eurlings told MPs he had stopped all preparations for the introduction of the controversial tax and was setting aside no more cash to fund the start-up.

CDA transport spokesman Ger Koopmans said he had 'great doubts' about the proposal as it now stands and that there is 'great unhappiness' about the plan in society at large.

Nevertheless, Koopmans said, he is not opposed to a tax on motoring in principle - and that it will be unavoidable in the years to come.

Election

Therefore the CDA election programme will include some form of road pricing, the Volkskrant said.

During the debate, Eurlings said he would continue to defend the concept of a kilometer tax. 'But I wanted it to be introduced fairly and with wide support,' he said.

The system proposed by Eurlings involved fitting every car with a small gps transmitter which would register car movements. Drivers would be billed every month for the distance they had driven. Extra charges would be levied on rush-hour motoring.

Left-wing green MP Ineke van Gent accused the CDA of paying lip service to the tax over the past three years. And she warned that the government may be faced with damages claims from all the private sector companies which have been involved in developing the systems.

The NRC points out that the transport ministers have been trying for the past 22 years to introduce some form of road pricing in the Netherlands but the plans have always failed because of a lack of popular support.

An experiment with a kilometer tax system had been due to start around Amsterdam shortly. It is not clear what the status of that project now is.

"...it will be unavoidable in the years to come..."

Dutch motorist are already paying the highest taxes in Europe, (My Skoda Octavia on LPG pays 956 euro/year while in Germany same car will par 136 euro/year) such a system not only will make the things worse but is also the definitive "big brother".

And what many people don't understand is that even if they make 3.000 km/year, all the transport cost will become higher,that means incresed prices forr groceries, inflation and so on...unless they want to go back to the "good old times" and get with the bicycle by the farmer to get milk and bread for their daily meal...

By Andreas | March 18, 2010 2:52 PM

OMG and i thought the UK was a rip off merchant, that is crazy money

By adhd | March 18, 2010 5:46 PM

Absolutely!!!! Way too much tax!

My income from UK Government (which Dutch now tell me, "is far too much") is 400 euros a month

... wait ...

.... I have to pay 108 euros a month for my car ...

... which for me has been my Ambulance when refused one by Dutch Emergency Services (twice!!!) and is basically my daily powered wheelchair.

Oh! I'm told by other Disabled Dutch people that this is not correct ... I should be paying a maximum of about 20 euros month ... and the Ministerie of Finance in Den Haag agreed but Leiden Belastingsdienst disagreed saying they will take the car away if I do not, or cannot, continue paying 108 euros per month ... which I cannot afford to do!

I cannot use public transport as it's not set-up very well in Netherlands to cope with many peopled Disablities. I risk Paralysis at worst and Death at best using Public Transport ... not that Dutch Government cares!

By Gerard | March 18, 2010 8:01 PM