Drivers who have petrol or diesel cars have been warned to expect to be penalised under new tax rules coming into action from April.
Sean Kemple, spokesperson for Close Brothers Motor Finance, said that the changes to the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) from April will see rates rise for all petrol and diesel car owners.
Those with models that produce a lot of air pollution will be affected by the changes the most, with VED rates for vehicles that produce over 255 g/km of CO2 pollution to rise to £2,365.
The increase is a massive £120 from the current 2021 rate and could be a blow for families who rely on their cars.
Mr Kemple has also warned of the “challenge” ahead as drivers look to switch to electric cars.
He said the Government would need to “offset” tax revenues as more drivers started to ditch their existing petrol and diesel cars.
Speaking to Express, he said: “You can see the incentive from a tax perspective of road tax and benefit in kind moving towards lower emission vehicles.
“That's better for everyone involved so it's a win-win situation.
“The challenge then is, how does the Government then offset those tax receipts in terms of what they would have been getting from petrol and diesel vehicles.
“What you then see is the consumers of petrol and diesel, in their view, I suppose being penalised by the type of vehicle they are purchasing.”
The VED increase is set to come into effect on April 1, 2022.
The changes were first announced during last year’s Autumn Budget.
