In several European countries governments are considering a new taxation system based on mileage.
Since discussions began on the transition of motor traffic to electric drive, taxation has been a major concern for governments, as in countries where fuel taxes represent an important part of state budget revenue, the reduction in sales of vehicles with an internal combustion engine will necessarily result in a reduction in state revenue.
So in order to compensate for this difference that will arise after achieving the objective of zero pollutant emissions, The governments will be invited to «invent» a new way to bring money to the public funds.
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However, the solutions proposed present some dark points, which are not easy to overlook. The simplest solution was to tax consumed electricity, but taxation of household electricity simply because an electric car is charged at home would increase the cost of electricity for everyone, Even for those who do not own an electric car.
On the other hand taxation only of electricity consumed through public chargers would also be unfair to those who cannot charge their cars at home And they already have to pay more for electricity from public stations.
Another option would be taxation of the equivalent carbon footprint of energy used for the production and operation of the car; and the same for the production of energy consumed.
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But in this case we should know the source of energy (renewable, coal, oil or nuclear energy) at any time and tax it according to the CO2 emitted to produce it, a process that complicates the situation quite a bit.
The simplest solution is the tax to apply to the annual kilometers that each car travels, as the fairest approach arises. Of course even in this light the calculation will have deviations as for the same mileage a small city car will consume significantly less energy than a family SUV.
This is exactly the approach proposed by the Great Britain Government, which in order to ensure the collection of revenues, obliges electric car owners every January to declare the estimated kilometres that will travel for the year to the government and pay accordingly.
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If they have travelled more kilometres by the end of the year, they must pay the difference, and if they have paid less the extra amount is transferred as credit to the following year.
