Diplomatic Congestion Charge bill.

[Resident]

https://news.sky.com/story/us-embassy-refuses-to-pay-163146m-london-congestion-charge-bill-insisting-it-is-exempt-from-tax-13140593#:~:text=Among all embassies%2C the total,year is £143.5m.

So the US government is refusing to pay the £14.6 million bill for accrued congestion charges, amongst others, bills totalling £143.5m

The US claims that the CC is a tax and therefore exempt as diplomats do not pay taxes in the host country

TfL claims it is not a tax but a service charge therefore the diplomats are required to pay.

My question is, if the congestion charge is a service charge, then what service is being provided?

TfL cannot claim the roads themselves because roads are paid for and maintained by general taxation.

 

[Werewolf]

IIRC things like the congestion charge are often ignored by embassies and diplomatic staff, I remember hearing about how NY was owed hundreds of millions in things like parking fines from diplomatic staff and official vehicles going back 25 years.

 

[GreatAuk]

I could see it as a general charge for road use, and it's up to them what kind of vehicles they charge and how much they charge. Same as a toll road.

Idk what the legal technicalities are though.

 

[Diddums]

 

[Diddums]

We can't even get that ******** of a country to send someone here for a murder investigation, they'll just be laughing at this.

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

I very much doubt our diplomats pay these same charges abroad.

 

[Angilion]

I very much doubt our diplomats pay these same charges abroad.

From what I can tell from a quick look around, it's normal for diplomats from any country to not pay any vehicle-related charges anywhere. It seems to be the way it works. Except in New York, where unpaid parking fines reached such silly levels that the city said "enough" and started enforcing them.

 

[Slam]

this has been an ongoing issue for years, familar article from 2012 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18725937
doesnt mean its right

 

[Freakbro]

this has been an ongoing issue for years, familar article from 2012 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18725937
doesnt mean its right

I was just going to say this one pops its head up every few years, a bit of outrage in the papers, then back to normal.

 

[MrMarvelous]

Irrelevant of what people think/say, this will never get paid.

 

[Participant]

Suspect that Sadiq Khan's London mayor rivals floated this to the press.