Effort to Cut Balancing Charges : R.H.A. Try Again
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RENEWED efforts were made this week by the Road Haulage Association to secure some relief from balancing charges on haulage
undertakings compulsorily acquired under the Transport Act, 1947. On Wednesday a deputation from the Association met Mr. Henry Brooke, Financial Secretary to the Treasury—the culmination of several months' pressure on the Government.
The deputation consisted of Mr. H. L. Walker, chairman of the Association's long-distance panel, Mr. C. H. Matthews, Mr. F. B. Carter, Mr. H. W. Bramley, a-ccountancy adviser to the panel, Mr. R. Morton Mitchell, chief executive officer, and Mr. E. H. J. Lafford, chief accountant of the R.H.A.
If the Association are successful, amending legislation will have to be passed unless the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the income-tax authorities can arrive at a suitable formula.
The official view is that the compulsory acquisition of a haulage undertaking does not constitute a sale under the Income Tax Acts, but is a succession. If it were a sale, balancing charges would be levied on the difference between the written-down value of the assets and the price actually paid.
In the case of succession, a balancing charge is applied to the difference between the written-down value and the market price of the assets. The R.H.A. argue that the market price of the assets transferred was a good deal below the prices paid by the British Transport Commission as compensation.
Their case rests, however, mainly on equity. They point out that the voluntary sale of businesses' by the transfer of shares avoided the burden of balancing charges and that businesses which were partially acquired also escaped.
CITY IGNORES PARCELS OFFER ITTLE interest appears to have been taken in the City in the publication of the prospectus of B.R.S. (Parcels), Ltd.
A well-known financier told The Commercial Motor this week that he knew of several people who had had under consideration the possibility of buying the State parcels network, but they were not enthusiastic. "My own view is that no one will touch the proposition," he said.
10s. AWARD FOR COACH DRIVERS
THE Industrial Disputes Tribunal have awarded pay increases of 10s. a week to drivers employed by Monarch Coaches (Bristol), Ltd. The dispute arose when it was claimed that Monarch Coaches failed to put into effect a 10s. increase for coach drivers awarded on March 1 by the SouthWestern (Provincial) Joint Industrial Council of Passenger Service Vehicle Operators.
The award took effect from the first full pay period following October 26.