Let’s say you’re an average UK driver, doing about 7,400 miles a year (nice round number from the government stats). That’s £222 a year in new taxes. For a high-mileage driver—like a sales rep or delivery driver doing 20,000 miles—that’s £600 a year. That’s not pocket change; that’s a nice weekend away in Cornwall!
Pay-per-mile car tax confirmed from 2028 as Labour reveals final plans
Oh, and did I mention it’s index-linked? That’s government-speak for “it will go up every year with inflation.” So 3p in 2028 might be 4p or 5p by 2032. Your future self is already rolling their eyes at past you for buying that petrol car.
How will they track you? (The creepy bit)
Right, now for the part that sounds like a Black Mirror episode. To charge you per mile, the government needs to know how many miles you drive. No, you won’t just “self-report” honestly (nice try). Plans include using your car’s onboard telematics, connecting to the MOT database, or even vehicle-tracking systems. Yes, they will know if you drove to the shop for milk at 11pm last Wednesday.
Privacy advocates are losing their minds—rightfully so!—but the government says it will be “privacy-conscious” and use “anonymised data.” Sure, and I’m a professional racing driver on my commute. The truth? We don’t know exactly how they’ll snoop, but it probably involves a little black box. Fingers crossed it’s just a voluntary odometer reading, but I wouldn’t bet your car on it.
