Would you pay to challenge UK tax?
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
a by Karen Miles
UK hauliers are being urged to come together to fund a legal attempt to stop the UK Government from charging hauliers vehicle excise and fuel duties.
Transport consultant Colin Ward wants hauliers and trade associations to finance a potentially expensive project which would start with gathering advice concerning the success rate of such a case. This process could end with operators taking the Government to the European Court of Justice for breaching European Union rules.
The basis of the argument would be that UK hauliers are put in an anti-competitive position by the Treasury because of VED and fuel duty rates which are way above those paid by their Continental competitors.
Although such a move would be applauded by UK hauliers, European Commission sources and British competition lawyers are cautious about the legal position of this argument.
A Commission source suggests FU governments are generally free to decide their own taxation pacies, and hauliers would have a stronger case if governments were compelled to harmonise road tax across Europe—but there is no such compulsion. He also points out that French hauliers complain they are losing out to UK hauliers because the UK government inflicts far lower taxes and national insurance costs on employers.
Competition lawyer Martin Coleman from London solicitors Norton Rose says the possibility of bringing a case is "worth exploring' and that to be successful it would have to be shown that the Government was discriminating against hauliers or impeding the free movement of goods.
But he warned that this process Could be long and expensive. A challenge would have to begin in the British courts or with the Commission. It could last many years, with no guarantee that hauliers would like the outcome.
The brewing industry is already exploring the idea of challenging the Government over what it sees as penalising UK tax rates.
The Government argues that although UK hauliers pay higher road taxes, UK business is compensated because it enjoys one of the lowest tax and national insurance costs among the FU's 15 member states, second only to Denmark.
• Hauliers wishing to pledge money to such a legal campaign over taxation should contact Ward International Consulting on 01329 280280.