Affordability of older diesels further under pressure in 2017 car tax plan

The content of the Autobrief II was approved by the Council of Ministers this afternoon (19 June). Actual austerity will occur with regard to the additional categories for lease cars. The BPM for the purchase of new cars is scattered scattered with 12% and the MRB is largely being reduced. There is no fund yet to stimulate the purchase of electric cars. It has come to light that a small category of car owners is likely to pay the bill for the green lobby (4% addition for fully electric cars) and the changed tax structure: the drivers of older diesels without a soot filter ex-factory. 

The next step in the dismantling of the "old diesel culture" has been taken. In The Hague it is in all likelihood decided that owners of a diesel car without a soot filter will be charged even more ex-works. Owning and using such a car would be good for a burden increase of hundreds of Euros per year as a result of a major increase in MRB. Certainly in the corner of owners of youngtimer or vintage cars, there will be mixed feelings about the message, because on 1 January 2014 they saw themselves - thanks to the MRB exemption rules for vintage cars - already facing a major cost increase.

Historically granted subsidy on particulate filters is simply recovered
It also seems that the government is now planning to recover historically granted subsidies on the soot filters. On 1 April 2006, the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment introduced a subsidy scheme that awarded a contribution of € 400 to motorists who fitted an existing diesel car (built from 1995 onwards) with a filter. From 1 July 2006 this amount was temporarily increased to € 500. This amount covered 80% of the costs of the soot filter, so that 20% of the investment was borne by the owner. In short: this concerned cars that were fitted with a filter afterwards and not at the factory. And the current owners of these diesels are presented with the bill, just like the owners of old and young timer diesels. In other words: you can pay for the historical tax subsidy. And that is very, very crooked.

Youngtimer branch sub-problem
When these measures actually come into effect, the young-timer sector will in any case be confronted with a partial problem. Of course there are enough buyers and lease drivers in the market for a gasoline youngtimer. For prospective buyers, however, the threshold will be raised, for example, to purchase a BMW 525 TD from 1997. The youngtimer lease companies will be faced with higher costs, since considerably more MRB may be paid for the fleet. And the remaining beautiful vintage cars with an age younger than forty years will be less visible in the streets. The regular occasion trade will also have to formulate a different policy with regard to these diesels, although they have already considerably reduced the diesel stock in recent years.

Expensively paid change for fraction within the fleet
The government - in this case State Secretary Wiebes - is in any case putting further pressure on employment in the young and old-timer sector. It is dearly paid change that is paid to Natuur & Milieu because The Hague has no plans to further stimulate the fully electric car. The diesel driver who does not have a car with an ex-factory particulate filter in general and the old- and young-timer sector in particular pay a high price for their low share within the total Dutch vehicle fleet. And that fact is extra sour, since the NoX emissions in the Netherlands have been significantly reduced thanks to the application of Euro standards and the CO2 emissions - calculated according to practical values ​​- have not decreased correspondingly, according to environmental reports. In addition, the extra taxable cars - also in terms of mileage - represent only a fraction of the total Dutch vehicle fleet. And their composition mainly contains new and efficient cars that are responsible for the emission of hazardous substances caused by new injection technologies. It is time for the major interest groups (such as BOVAG, RAI and Natuur & Milieu) to really pay attention to these matters. Because this unpleasant form of symbol politics is becoming increasingly unfair.