I got stung!

I just paid my car tax using the all new direc-gov website to make it easier for Gordon Brown to rob us electronically. 12 months road tax on my Nissan Primera cost me £190. Ouch!

Entering it in my accounts, I see that last year it cost £155. That's an increase of 22.5%. To put you in the picture if you live in America, £190 is $372 at today's exchange rate. The road tax is just to keep the car legally on the road - insurance, tax on petrol, tax on the cost of the car are all extra to this.

(BTW - how much is a litre of ordinary unleaded petrol (sorry - "gas") in the US?)

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