Fleets hoping for help in this week’s Budget are likely to be let down as the Government concentrates instead on raising revenue to counteract UK borrowing hitting at least £118bn this year.
Scrappage is the big political decision. Fleets will only be affected if RVs are unsettled – hence calls by the BVRLA and ACFO for the scheme to include used cars emitting up-to 165g/km CO2.
“Allowing people to buy newer, but more fuel-efficient, vehicles they can afford will have the Government’s desired impact of reducing emissions,” said John Lewis, BVRLA chief.
Calls from motoring organisations to defer fuel tax rises (which will be 2% above inflation from April 2010) are likely to go unheeded too. However, delaying the planned 2010/2011 first year VED tax on new cars could stimulate demand.
On the wider front, Nigel May, tax principal at accountant MacIntyre Hudson, is predicting a delay in the 0.5% rise in employer (but not employee) NI, due from April 2011, and a new variable rate Class 1A contribution based on pay bands.
“Currently employers pay a flat rate of 12.8% regardless of how much employees earn but reducing the rate for those earning less will be politically attractive,” he said.
