What Car? Q&A - Will company car tax on my 4x4 increase?

Q: A colleague has mentioned an increase in company car tax for 4x4s in the near future. As I'm about to order a new Honda CRV, can you tell me if that's likely to be the case?
John Szparaga


Advisors have put pressure on Chancellor Gordon Brown to introduce a more punitive tax system for 4x4s but the proposals haven't been adopted and there's no suggestion so far that they will be.

In fact, in the March budget, Brown froze company car tax at current levels until 2008 at the earliest.

It's always possible there might be some more news in the pre-Budget report due later this year, or in the Budget next March but so far there have been no signs that 4x4s, or any other type of car, are to be singled out.

The Liberal Democrats want 4x4 drivers to pay a higher congestion charge in London, and this has been considered by mayor Ken Livingstone. However, it was decided that it would be too complicated to charge them more, and the proposal was scrapped.