DR Simon Ward (Letters, May 5) should be aware that vehicle excise duty was originally known as the road fund licence, a title which needs no further explanation.
The public roads in this country are used not only by motorists but also by cyclists, pedestrians and users of public transport. So there is a valid argument that the car tax is now an outmoded form of funding for the roads and that the cost should be transferred to general taxation, thereby spreading the load across all users.
As for the point about the taxation on the ownership of a motor vehicle, this is produced by applying VAT to the cost of all new vehicles.
J C Potter,
Eastfield Avenue,
Haxby, York.
Updated: 10:55 Monday, May 10, 2004
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