1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192 
Please be gentle, Gordon
Page 20
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The contents of the Chancellor's red box will be revealed on 17 March. What are operators and the trade associations hoping will
emerge? Jennifer Ball finds out.
0 perators already concerned about the cost of the Working Time Directive and digital tachographs are waiting anxiously for Gordon Brown's Budget speech. hoping that he will not add to their worries by increasing their tax burden.
The UK economy is expected to grow at around 4.75% over the next two years but pundits at accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers reckon that the UK's budget deficit will remain at around £40bn. That being the case the Chancellor would be under pressure to raise taxes or tighten his purse strings and cut public spending.
Industry bosses are concerned that economic recovery could be hindered by higher interest rates and taxes, which would further threaten the UK transport industry's competitiveness. In its submission to the Treasury the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has urged the Chancellor to improve the goy ernment's relationship with business following complaints of "relentless and damaging rises" in company tax bills.
Director-general Digby Jones wants Brown to reduce the tax burden on companies by simple across-theboard cuts rather than complex tax breaks. The CBI is calling for a reduction in National Insurance, which it claims penalises job creation and is unrelated to companies' ability to pay.
The CBI has also asked for assurances that there will be no rise in local business rates or in environmental and transport taxes such as the aggregates levy and fuel duty — this remains the biggest fear among operators.
The Road Haulage and Freight Transport Associations are both renewing their calls for the Treasury to curb arise in fuel duty: they point out that the collapse of the dollar against sterling has not led to a fall in fuel prices at the pumps They also want the government to stabilise fuel prices by adjusting diesel duty at times of intense price volatility.
In addition the FTA wants the government to outline plans foi its proposed Lorry Road Usei Charging scheme and a review 01 its 10-Year Transport Plan. or