BBC Radio Guernsey on Saturday 27 December highlighted in their news bulletin that Lindsay de Sausmarez is looking again at implementing a distance charging tax in Guernsey. There are many reasons (some included below) as to why this should not be implemented and I would appreciate it if islanders would consider signing this petition.

1. Tax on fuel is already considerably higher in Guernsey than the UK - roughly 35-40p more per litre.
2. The pump price per litre in Guernsey is also higher than the UK and because of the fairly short distances traveled for each journey, cars generally achieve a much lower mile to gallon (mpg) than driving in the UK - making it even more expensive for islanders.
3. With the cost of living crisis many people are already struggling to afford to own and run a car. I worry about families in particular that have to make a lot of journeys to and from schools, activities, commuting to work etc.
4. This would be an additional cost for local businesses in terms of transportation, again with many already suffering due to the high cost of living.
5. This would effectively be double taxing owners of petrol and diesel cars, who are already paying a large amount of tax to drive. If this goes ahead then they'd be taxed on both the fuel and on the distance traveled.
6. If GST is brought in then drivers would be taxed yet again and essentially they would become triple taxed - fuel, distance and then GST on top.
7. The States of Guernsey didn't listen to the public (who protested on North Beach years ago) around the introduction of a First Registration Duty - with the government still bringing it in a couple of years later. These taxes have been disproportionately increased over the years, which can have negative repercussions for the motoring trade. This proposed tax could add to this.
8. The distance charging proposal also includes looking at technology fitted to your car, which could track your journeys. This information isn't needed by government and is an invasion of people's privacy. While some would argue that this data collection doesn't matter, this could still be hacked and/or used inappropriately in the future. It is better not to collect your data in this way at all. Please email The Office of the Data Protection Authority to raise any concerns you have on this matter, info@odpa.gg
9. The cost of fitting trackers in cars would also be significant and a waste of taxpayers money - meaning that it could take years for the government to see the benefit of such a tax. 
10. If a tax does need to be brought in then electric car drivers are currently subject to no usage tax. Wouldn't an easier and more cost effective solution be to charge each electric car owner an annual fee? Which wouldn't be expensive to implement (compared to distance charging) and mean that petrol and diesel car owners aren’t double taxed.

Please add in the comments, if there is anything I've missed and I'd value everyone's opinions on the matter. 

If you'd like to raise your concerns to Lindsay de Sausmarez then her contact information is available on this parliamentary webpage, https://parliament.gg/members-and-constitution/people/lindsay-de-sausmarez. Details for all the other deputies are available here, https://parliament.gg/members-and-constitution/deputies-and-representatives.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this petition. Again I'd be grateful if you would consider signing it. If anyone would like to share it (or make a donation) that would also be greatly appreciated.