Diesel-powered vehicles will be more heavily taxed in the UK as the local government wants to push drivers towards less polluting alternatives.
The new tax plan will be unveiled in UK’s Autumn Budget statement on November 22, with Financial Times reporting that chancellor Phillip Hammond took the decision of increasing taxes on diesel cars, arguing that it’s the best option in order to fund the government’s new air-quality initiatives.
So far it’s not clear whether the new tax will come in the form of a VAT increase on diesel vehicles or something else. Sales of diesel-powered vehicles have been falling sharply, dropping by 14.9 percent in the year to October in the UK, mostly due to the public mistrust.
The decision comes after London imposed an additional £10 charge on pre-Euro4 petrol and diesel vehicles in the city center, with the mayor currently consulting on whether to expand the measure to a wider area.
Car makers on the other hand argue that their newer diesel engines are far cleaner than before, and even on par with petrol engines in terms of NOx emissions.
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