Haulier told to pay back-duty
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A Rotherham-based hurler has been ordered to pay almost £7,000 in back duty after he pleaded guilty to using Dutch-registered vehicles without paying for their UK VED, although he was not fined.
E Pawson and Sons appeared before magistrates in Leigh, Lancashire, but was handed an absolute discharge by the court—meanig that no fine or penalty was imposed.
For the prosecution, Alan Bakker said that two vehicles were stopped on different days last November by Greater Manchester Police. Both trucks had Ministry plates showing UK registration numbers and the tachograph clocks were set on UK time, not the time of the country of registration. They were displaying British 0licence identity discs and the tachograph charts showed they were being used in the UK. The Crown's case was that the vehicles were not 'temporarily brought into this country by a person resident outside the UK", and therefore were not exempt from British VED.
When interviewed, company director, Derrick Pawson said the vehicles had been registered in Holland by Transport M & N and then leased back. There was no need to tax the vehicles in this country as they were Dutch registered and had community authorisations allowing them to run cabotage in any member state. He agreed that the vehicles had not been out of the UK for three months, but said they would return to Holland to be tested.
For the company, Gary Hodgson said that a lot of UK operators had been flagging out and this was a case of "partial flagging out". The North Eastern Traffic Area allowed the company to specify the vehicles on their 0licence with Dutch registration numbers, he added.
In March, however, the Transport Tribunal decided it was not right for foreign registered vehicles to be specified on British 0-licences, and operators were given until the end of April to re-register vehicles in the UK.
"The industry was faced with rising costs and it was felt this was a legitimate way of reducing them at the time," said Hodgson. "It was lulled into a false sense of security by the British 0-licensing system that allowed foreign registered vehicles to be specified on British 0-licences."
The magistrates ordered the company to pay 16,645 back-duty and £75 prosecution costs.