First green tax on vehicles

Date: 16/11/2009

A green tax at €0.03 (2.7p) per kilometre is being adopted in Holland this week which marks the first such tax in Europe.

Dutch government officials intend that the tax, which is calculated in a pay-per-kilometre method using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, will end the country's traffic congestion and cut emissions.

The plan is scheduled to be enforced by 2012 and is to replace the country's current road and purchase taxes.

It is expected to drive the new vehicle price down as much as 25 per cent in the country.

GPS systems will be embedded in cars to track time, hour and place each vehicle moves before sending the data to a billing agency to be charged.

Trucks, commercial vehicles and large cars will be assessed at higher rates under the programme, according to the Dutch transport ministry.