Stopped haulier pays tax twice on same fuel
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GERMAN CUSTOMS have charged a UK haulier more than £70 in tax for fuel carried in an additional tank and charged his driver £75 for the return of his passport.
Peter Harding, MD of Peter Harding Freight International, based at Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, says his driver bought the diesel in Belgium and had paid tax on it.
However, German customs stopped his truck, measured the 300-litre tank, declared it non-standard and charged his company £73.46 fuel duty.
“They said if we had bought the fuel in Germany there would have been no problem,” says Harding, who bought the additional tank from DAF.
“All hauliers should be warned that non-standard tanks will be penalised in Germany,” adds Harding, who says his 10-vehicle fleet paid up to £48,000 in foreign road tolls last year.
Peter Cullum, Road Haulage Association head of international affairs, met HMRC to complain about the German practice on behalf of member Harding. “The Energy Taxation Directive says that if you are travelling internationally and have bought fuel in one country you will not pay tax in another, as long as the tank is standard and made by the vehicle manufacturer.” He believes the directive may need to be reviewed to clarify what is meant by a standard tank. “There is a level of detail below which the directive does not go, but you have the scope for using common sense.”