TURN ROUND ON TAX EXEMPTION
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Owners of specialist vehicles travelling on the roads fewer than six miles a week have been told they must tax the vehicles at the full rate, contradicting other Government policy which positively encourages their use. Under the changes that came into force on 1 July, these formerly tax-exempt vehicles, such as dockside tractor units travelling on public roads occasionally, have to pay vehicle excise duty at the design weight. Owners of the 3,000 vehicles in this category face typical bills of £2,000 a year (maximum increase in first year £1,000).
But at the some time the Deportment of Transport has said that such vehicles should be exempt from plating and testing regulations, the driver does not have to hold an LGV licence and they can be run on red diesel.
The Treasury, in a letter to the Road Haulage Association's technical manager Bob Stacey, has defended the imposition of tax claiming the vehicles, once taxed, could be used to go greater distances. But as Stacey points out, not if the owner was obeying the other Department of Transport rules. "I can't see these vehicles getting too for on red diesel or without the driver holding a licence," he says.