Tax review for islanders
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• Roads minister Robert Key has promised to review vehicle taxation for hauliers on remote British islands, many of whom lost their right last month to tax trucks at a preferential rate of £150.
Until April, hauliers who operated on islands with infrequent ferry crossings were entitled to tax their trucks at the restricted I,GV level. But the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is now demanding that any plated truck must be taxed at the conventional rate.
The move was intended to stop the restricted taxation class being abused. Mainland hauliers registered their trucks on an island and claimed the reduced tax. But the move has inadvertently forced many islanders to tax their trucks at conventional rates, which they cannot afford, Labour MP Brian Wilson has warned Key.
As a result Key has agreed to review Vehicle Excise Duty for islanders on Arran, Bute, Great Cumbrae, Islay, Mull, Tiree, North Uist and the Scilly Isles, many of whom run plated trucks.
Although islanders are exempt from plating their trucks, because of the absence of local testing stations, many of them have bought plated trucks from the mainland.