Budget road tax 'hitting most cars'

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The TaxPayers' Alliance calculated that 88% of vehicles would be hit with higher duty, while only 9% would leave their owners better off.

It said the Treasury would get more than £1 billion from the changes designed to encourage the production of more green-friendly cars.

The reforms include the introduction of a £950 "showroom tax" on the most gas-guzzling cars.

But the TaxPayers' Alliance said duty on Rolls Royces and Porsches would rise by less than the typical family saloon, according to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The claim came after Chancellor Alistair Darling was warned he would have to make an £8 billion cut in spending if Labour are returned at the next General Election.

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies said the small print in the Budget "red book" suggested a £7.5 billion deterioration in the public finances since the Pre-Budget Report last October.

IFS director Robert Chote said Mr Darling would have to find a further £4 billion in spending cuts in his next spending review - scheduled for 2009 - on top of the £4 billion already pencilled in.

He said: "To make the numbers add up, he is now looking for an £8 billion spending cut over the two years covered by the 2009 spending review."

But he said measures would not bite until after the next General Election, which must be held by May 2010 at the latest.