Finance minister says Government has no plans to tax cars by weight in the short-term

Speaking in Cork, the Finance Minister indicated such a system would be for future governments to decide. Picture: Damien Storan

The Finance Minister has indicated taxing larger and heavier vehicles to make up the shortfall from dwindling returns from fossil fuel-powered cars is not on the short-term agenda.

A paper from the Tax Strategy Group (TSG), which is a Department of Finance advisory arm since the 1990s, published this week states it is “likely in the medium to longer term, vehicle taxes may shift to a weight-based vehicle tax or surcharge in order to protect the vehicle tax base”.