Here’s a golden...

Here’s a golden opportunity for the Government to raise even more money from beleaguered motorists. A leaked Treasury paper – which has been circulating in Westminster – has revealed that Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is looking to introduce an extra ‘purchase tax’ on models with high CO2 emissions.

This would see as much as чЈ2,000 added to a car’s price or increase its first year’s VED by up to чЈ1,300. The new levies could be introduced as soon as Darling’s first Budget in the spring.

The scheme, aimed at discouraging buyers from choosing luxury, performance and off-road vehicles, will see a new top band introduced for models emitting more than 254g/km of CO2.

All cars in this category – including the entire Range Rover line-up, all Porsche 911s and most versions of the Mercedes S-Class – would be hit by the proposed чЈ2,000 levy.

There is some good news for drivers of green vehicles, though. The paper suggests that buyers of models which emit less than 100g/km of CO2 will receive a rebate of up to чЈ2,000. At present, only electric cars such as the G-Wiz and the Volkswagen Polo 1.4 TDI BlueMotion are under that figure.