The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association is calling for new chancellor George Osborne to use next week’s emergency Budget to help fleets and leasing companies by easing the administration burden.
Dumping the physical tax disc could, according to the BVRLA, save Government £90m per year in printing and distribution of the 34m tax discs produced per year. The association said widespread use of automatic number plate technology mean there’s no need to display a paper disc in car windows any more.
“Not having to display a tax disc would bring us into the 21st Century and reduce the burden on fleet owners, who would no longer have to distribute them to drivers or retrieve them when they were seeking to obtain a refund,” said BVRLA chief executive John Lewis. “It would help the government make instant progress in its plans to cut government waste and the money could be invested in modernising some of the DVLA’s antiquated systems and working practices.”
Lewis also wants to see multi-year Vehicle Excise Duty introduced, which it claims could save the industry £5m per year in administration costs.
The BVRLA has also suggested changes to the benefit-in-kind system, reiterating its call for the 3% diesel penalty to be scrapped, though Lewis accepts that there may have to be “compensatory adjustments to the benefit-in-kind base lines in order to maintain the tax take.”
For all the news on next week’s Budget, which kicks off at 3.30pm, click to www.businesscar.co.uk/budget.
