Fuel duty hike warning

A warning has been issued to members of the Freight Transport Association (FTA) that the Chancellor could announce increases in fuel duty in his Budget Statement on 8 July.
FTA has also renewed its support for the successful FairFuelUK campaign that it founded with the Road Haulage Association in 2011. FTA, together with its partners in this campaign, is renewing its call for a 3p a litre cut in duty to help sustain economic recovery. The organisation claims this would put an extra £360m into thousands of businesses that rely on commercial vehicles and boost their cash flows and investments, particularly in small and medium sized companies.

FTA’s Deputy Chief Executive, James Hookham, said, ‘During the election campaign, the political parties ruled out increases in just about every other tax except fuel duty. We know there will be no rise in income tax, National Insurance or VAT. That leaves fuel duty looking vulnerable to future increases but that would be a huge mistake for the Chancellor to make at this stage in the economic cycle. With crude oil prices expected to reach $70 a barrel in the next few weeks and the UK economy not growing as quickly as anticipated in the first quarter of 2015, it would be wrong for George Osborne to believe that business transport users and millions of van owners were potential sources of new tax revenue. The Government must not raid road users to fund its election promises. The Chancellor needs to understand that fuel duty is still off-limits as he considers his Budget Statement in July.’

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