Irish hauliers celebrate fuel cuts
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• by Brendan Nolan
irish hackers will be paying thou,:ands of pounds less in diesel duty following a Budget that will leave their UK counterparts green with envy.
The Irish government has knocked 6p/lit off diesel fuel duty—and VAT will be reduced by 1.3p/lit in January, reducing the tax on diesel to 19p/lit from 6 December. This will lead to a forecourt price of about 66p/lit.
Galway-based lggy Madden Transport runs 22 tractive units and uses up to 2,000 litres of fuel a week. "We are glad to see the government listened to haullers, and maybe the reduction will help some of the other firms stay in business," says David Madden.
However, the Irish government has ruled out an essential user rebate, claiming EU regulations would prohibit it.
Followng the Budget, Irish hauliers can now offset some 20% of the cost of equipment against taxes each year; and, in a change to corporation tax bands, smaller businesses will have to make more than 1R£200,000 (£155,000) before paying the higher rate of 20%. Below this figure they will pay12.5%. The iR£25 annual registration fee for semi-trailers has been abolished, but the initial IR£50 registration fee remains.
David Walsh, the chief executive of the Irish Road Haulage Association, says he is delighted by the outcome of the industry's discussions with the government.
"We got everything we called for in our discussions with the government task force," he adds, "and the IRHA has been publicly acknowledged as the representative body for the haulage industry" The IRHA executive has been in negotiation with a government committee on the industry since its nationwide road protest on 15 September.