Autos and motos: all news and articles

Operating heavy vehicles like semi trucks is a stressful, time-consuming business endeavor. Any business is rife with things to do, but when you’re in charge of running a fleet of trucks on our nation’s highways and keeping everything running like clockwork, you hardly have the time to stop by the Internal Revenue Service and pay the Heavy Vehicle Tax.

But did you know that as of August 2007, the Excise Tax Form 2290 can be filed electronically?

Thanks to the Excise Tax e-file and Compliance project, the HVUT can now be filed over the internet, and in fact, truck companies or operators with more than 25 trucks on the road are required to file over the web. But you cannot just handle this at the Internal Revenue Service web page.

Instead, private e-file companies exist independently , and you can log into their sites and pay a small fee to get up to date on your responsibilities as a taxpayer. Not all Excise tax papers can be filed on the internet’the only ones with this available option are the Form 2290, the Form 720, and the Form 8849. All others must be filed in the traditional manner.

The purpose of this system is to provide an efficient way to file with far less chance of mistakes. And while the Internal Revenue Service is not currently suggesting any particular websites to file with, all must be approved by the IRS itself.

In addition, the IRS offers support and training to the companies so that all of them are qualified to offer help for taxpayers who have difficulty with the new system.

For many truck-drivers, a big concern about the new system is that they will be stuck without a stamped copy of their Schedule One, which can cause problems when leasing or purchasing insurance, but the e-filing companies have handled this problem by providing an electronic copy of the schedule one with a company logo or watermark, which can then be printed out immediately.

For vehicle owners that only have one truck or a small fleet under 25, it is still possible to go in and file the heavy vehicle tax in person or by mail; however, most business owners and operators will agree that finding the time to do this or waiting for the Schedule One in the mail is far from convenient. You are required to file the Form 2290 for every single month that your vehicle is on our nation’s highways, and if you get caught avoiding this tax or pulling sneaky tactics to pay a lower fee, you can face additional penalties, legal fines, or even incarceration.

But with the new e-filing option, there’s really no reason why you can’t get it paid on time. It makes it a snap to get heavy vehicle tax taken care of from the comfort of your office or home, and it doesn’t get much more convenient than that.

A car was once a luxury that only the rich could afford to own and run, but since Henry Ford started mass producing his Model T in the 1940s, cars have become readily available. But if the cost of running a car continue to rise however, it might become more of a luxury commodity again. Relatively speaking, the cost of buying a car is decreasing, running it however, is becoming more expensive. In the last two years, the annual cost of maintaining a car has increased by 11% according to a recent survey by Sainsburys Finance.

The survey found that annual car costs are, on average, 2,338. This rise comes from increased servicing costs, higher taxes and greater insurance premiums. There is no real reason as to why, since 2007, servicing costs have increased by 3.76%. Are we getting a better service than in 2007? The answer, most likely, is no.

Car tax is another factor that has increased, although this now varies much more depending on the car you drive. On average, car tax is now almost ?170, an increase of 7.5% on 2007 levels. But this figure hides the variation caused by the green tax i.e. taxing the dirtiest and most polluting cars more than the cleaner, efficient ones.

The is to encourage drivers to buy more environmentally friendly cars. So drivers that have economical cars with low CO2 emissions are now paying less tax. Therefore, it pays to downsize to a more fuel efficient car that gives off fewer harmful CO2 emissions. In addition to this, because these cars are more economical, you will pay less for fuel, (which isnt included in the survey). Fuel is another element of car driving that has increased since 2007, therefore getting more miles to the gallon is doubly as important now.

The biggest stir however, has been caused by the huge increase in insurance premiums. Car insurance now averages at 551 per car, an increase of 23% on 2007 levels making it by far the single biggest cost involved with running a car. This makes getting the right insurance at the right price is now even more of important.

With fuel and taxes likely to increase further, you should start saving on your car insurance now.

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