In recent years, public spending on roads has increased, and car taxes fell. The winners have been electric car owners.
‘Over the past two years, expenses in this area have been higher than taxation income from motor vehicles. However, back in 2006, the State almost doubled the amount of taxation they spent on roads’,said senior adviser, Bjørn Gran-Henriksen, of Statistics Norway (SSB).
In 2016, the State received NOK 60 billion from taxes on cars and other vehicles. This one-time fee was the largest source of income, followed by petrol and diesel taxes. Electric cars don’t pay any of these, and thus both revenue sources fell.
In the same year, the State spent over NOK 70 billion on road transport; which was 10 billion more than tax revenue. The share of government spending has increased each year since 2003, and is now 4.5%.
Gran-Henriksen emphasised that spending on roads not only increased capacity, improved standards, and increased road safety for motorists,but pedestrians, and cyclists, also enjoyed the benefits of better walking, and cycling, routes, while bus passengers had more routes to choose between.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
