[37431 Sir,—As interested parties in the running of road transport,
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also as readers of your journal, we should like to know if you can give us any information on a point that has just been raised.
In 1931 we converted two wagons from solid to pneumatic tyres, applying for and receiving a refund of £12 and 14. We are now notified that these refunds were too much and should have been calculated in accordance with the provisions of Section 18 of the Finance Act of 1924, The authorities included with the letter a statement showing how they arrived at their figures.
Can you say if this matter is in order?
Other readers of your journal to whom we have mentioned it suggest that this would be an interesting topic
for users in general. CONVERSION. Rochdale.
[We assume that the vehicle in respect of which you received the refund of £12 was one the weight unladen of which, before the conversion, was between 3 tons and 4 tons, the annual duty being £48, and that after the conversion the weight unladen was between 21 tons and 3 tons, and the annual duty with pneumatic tyres was £32. We also assume that the second vehicle, in respect of which you received a refund of £4 on July 1st, was one the weight unladen of which was between 21 tons and 3 tons both before and after conversion, the duty being £40 with solid tyres and £32 with pneumatics.
In our opinion, having regard to the fact that the annual licence which you had taken out was exchanged for the new one, you were entitled to the full refund of £12 in the case of the first vehicle and to the full refund of £4 in the case of the second vehicle.
We consider that the licensing authorities are not entitled to treat the matter as though it consisted of two separate transactions, i.e., the surrender of the annual licence and the taking out of a new part-year licence, and they are not entitled to claim from you a fee of 10s. for the surrender, nor the additional 5 per cent, on the amount of the part-year licence duty. The attitude of the licensing authorities would have been correct if, for example, you had surrendered the annual licence on March 25th and had taken out a part-year licence on May 1st, as in that case there would have been two entirely distinct transactions, and not merely an adjustment of the rate of duty.
We are obliged to you for having drawn our attention to this interesting point.—En.}