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Opportunity missed

25th April 1975, Page 7
25th April 1975
Page 7
Page 7, 25th April 1975 — Opportunity missed
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Although the Budget brought sharp increases in vehicle licence duties, the results could have been a great deal worse, in a year which brought savage increases in other areas. We think two of the most worrying aspects of Mr Healey's proposals are the cut-back in public spending which will effectively knock £74m off the already truncated road and transport investment programme; and the heavy VAT impost on consumer goods which must inevitably depress freight traffic even further.

Assuming that vehicle costing is not one of the Chancellor's specialities, it is fortuitous that he chose to increase licence duty-a standing cost whose effect can be minimised by extra productivity-rather than a running cost, like fuel tax, where the cost per mile remains the same however far the vehicle runs. It is therefore a pity that he did not take the opportunity to transform commercial vehicle tax from an unladen to a gross weight basis, as operators have frequently requested. Retention of unladen weight as a basis in a country where all trucks are now gvw plated is an anomaly which will become even more ridiculous when the hgv driving licence limit changes from 3 tons unladen to 7.5 tonnes gvw next January.

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