Road tax

Road tax, known by various names around the world, is a tax which has to be paid on a motor vehicle before using it on a public road.

National implementations

Australia

All Australian states and territories require an annual vehicle registration fee to be paid in order to use a vehicle on public roads; the cost of which varies from state to state and is dependent on the type of vehicle. The fee is colloquially known as rego (pronounced with a soft g, short for registration).

Belgium

Passenger cars pay a registration fee based on the engine displacement and power output (degressive towards 2014 (66% in 2012, 33% in 2013, 0% in 2014) and environmental criteria such as CO2 g/km output (increasingly towards 2014). The more CO2 g/km the car produces, the higher the fee will be. (https://belastingen.fenb.be/vfp-portal-pub2-web/simulatieVerkeersbelasting.html#/q/top). Every year, the plate number owner has to pay the annual road tax contribution. This tax is based on the engine displacement (0-799cc = fiscal HP 4, above 800cc per 200cc 1 class higher) (http://koba.minfin.fgov.be/commande/pdf/Fold_verkeersbelast_2010_2011.pdf). Due to CO2 based regulations, diesel cars with above average displacement (>2000cc) are favorised, and petrol cars with bigger displacements are put at a disadvantage). A supplementary annual fee has to be paid for cars that run on LPG/CNG (0-799cc: €84/year, 800-2499cc €148/year and >2500cc €208/year) to compensate financial loss for the state due to the absence of excise at the pump.

Road

A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places that has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by foot or some form of conveyance, including a horse, cart, bicycle, or motor vehicle.

Roads consist of one or two roadways (British English: carriageways), each with one or more lanes and any associated sidewalks (British English: pavement) and road verges.

Roads that are available for use by the public may be referred to as public roads or as highways.

Definitions

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines a road as "a line of communication (travelled way) using a stabilized base other than rails or air strips open to public traffic, primarily for the use of road motor vehicles running on their own wheels," which includes "bridges, tunnels, supporting structures, junctions, crossings, interchanges, and toll roads, but not cycle paths."

In urban areas roads may diverge through a city or village and be named as streets, serving a dual function as urban space easement and route. Modern roads are normally smoothed, paved, or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel. Historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or maintenance.