When was the road maintenance fee abolished
2 Answers
The road maintenance fee was abolished on January 1, 2009. The following are the targets of the road maintenance fee collection: 1. Vehicles with license plates: All passenger and cargo vehicles, special vehicles, dedicated vehicles, traction vehicles, simple vehicles (including agricultural transport vehicles), trailers, towed flatbed trucks, wheeled tractors, motorcycles (including two-wheeled and side three-wheeled), as well as animal-drawn vehicles engaged in road transport with license plates (including temporary license plates and test license plates). 2. System: Vehicles of the military, public security, and armed police systems that participate in local business transport, contract civil engineering projects, or are rented to local units and individuals. 3. Enterprises: Vehicles of enterprises within the military, public security, and armed police systems. 4. Sino-foreign cooperation: Vehicles of foreign-funded enterprises, Sino-foreign joint ventures, and Sino-foreign cooperative enterprises.
I discussed this with a friend who researches policies. The cancellation of the road maintenance fee is actually related to the national tax reform. On January 1, 2009, the road maintenance fee was officially abolished nationwide, and car owners who previously paid the fee switched to paying a fuel tax. Simply put, in the past, you paid nearly a thousand yuan annually based on the vehicle's weight, but now it's all included in the fuel price—about one yuan more per liter goes to taxes. This policy completely resolved the issue of local arbitrary fees and eliminated the hassle of queuing at service windows. Nowadays, most young drivers don’t even know what the road maintenance fee was, which shows progress. However, fuel prices have become more volatile, and drivers who frequently take long trips end up paying a bit more. Still, overall, it’s much more convenient than before.
