New car tax rules 'will hit buyers'

Last week's budget could mean higher car taxes for many - and an article for the Guardian last week has advised on how car shoppers can prepare for this.

According to Miles Brignall, a specialist on consumer issues for the newspaper, buyers purchasing a petrol model in the future could pay out significantly more in the long-term than those opting for an oil-burning vehicle.

He states that buying the "sleek petrol model" could cost £550 in tax for the first year but adds diesel engines can mean "[driving] away having paid absolutely nothing in car tax".

Shoppers looking for a people carrier or a 4x4, he warns, need to choose carefully when heading to the forecourts as - despite the most "headline-grabbing" of the car tax changes being two years down the line - there could still be short-term expense.

"In the short term, the big losers are those driving large petrol-engined cars. Over the next two years they will see their annual road tax bill climb by between £100 and £200," he concludes.

As part of last week's budget, chancellor Alistair Darling has announced that tax rules will change dramatically from 2010 in line with an individual vehicle's CO2 emissions.


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