Hauliers fear Budget will push up fuel tax
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by Guy Sheppard
• The road transport industry is bracing itself for an increase in fuel and vehicle excise duties in the new Labour Government's first Budget next month.
John Chapman, head of operations for the Road Haulage Association, says he is convinced that Chancellor Gordon Brown will target fuel rather than Vehicle Excise Duty. "It's the sort of tax which is easy to collect, raises a lot of revenue and is in line with European talk about tax on use rather than ownership," warns Chapman.
He believes that most hauliers will be unable to pass on any rise to customers, leading to the temptation to cheat on maintenance and VED, particularly as enforcement is so
01 patchy.
Haulage is seen as an easy target for the incoming Government which needs revenue to finance a raft of
VED: Frozen for past new policies.
seven Budgets. Paul leVixey, man
aging director of Wixey Transport in Oxhill, Warks, cut his fleet from 14 to six earlier this year following a sharp rise in diesel prices. "It was 8p a litre more than it is now and we could not get the rate increases to match," he says.
Some operators fear the Chancellor will target VED which has been frozen for commercial vehicles in the last seven Budgets.
Stephen Clark, managing director of Blakes Chilled Transport in Alcester, Warks, says he is considering paying VED early. "We have about 85 vehicles under our control and about 10% would be eligible," he says. "That could save quite a significant amount of money."