Fuel duty

[peterb]

Not sure if this has been covered elsewhere...

However - when VAT was cut from 17.5% to 15%, the chancellor raised duty on fuel by 2p to compensate for the reduction in price by the VAT cut. Surprise surprise, when VAT was increased, the extra fuel duty remained. (Why I am I not surprised) so another stealth tax.

Tjhere is a petion

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/DutyReduction/

if you feel strongly about it. I doubt that it will make any difference but I felt better for signing it.

[kalniel]

This is the duty increase that was proposed ages ago and then postponed. So it would have been more effective to petition at the time it was proposed.

But more importantly, fuel duty is a far fairer tax than the alternatives, which would see people paying increased tax regardless of their car usage, driving style or type of car. If you'd rather have a more unfair tax system then feel free to petition against fuel duty increases, but personally I'd rather they increased fuel duty and stopped increasing RFL instead, because then *I'm* in charge of how much tax I pay through my usage - I can effectively cut my tax bill by driving more economically, or car-sharing.

[Andeh13]

signed & will post on pistonheads!

[Steve]

I'd rather they increased fuel duty and stopped increasing RFL instead, because then *I'm* in charge of how much tax I pay through my usage - I can effectively cut my tax bill by driving more economically, or car-sharing.

That's true to a point, because surely that duty increase affects shipping and such? Of course, to be more competitive, they can be more efficient, but I'm sure it's easier just to pass costs on?

[BUFF]

& unfortunately foreign hauliers with extra large tanks can fill up cheaper abroad & undercut UK-based firms ...
& VAT is reclaimable but fuel duty isn't.

[scaryjim]

That's true to a point, because surely that duty increase affects shipping and such? Of course, to be more competitive, they can be more efficient, but I'm sure it's easier just to pass costs on?

& unfortunately foreign hauliers with extra large tanks can fill up cheaper abroad & undercut UK-based firms ...
& VAT is reclaimable but fuel duty isn't.

Aren't these both good reasons to lobby for additional duty breaks for haulage / shipping comanies, rather than lower fuel duty in general, though?

Although on a personal level I'd quite like to see a lot more long distance haulage go via rail: not sure we have the infrastructure to make it a reality anymore, but it'd get all those bloody lorries off my motorway (allowing my to drive faster and therefore pay more tax )

[Funkstar]

I just have to say that when I recently drove through France and Spain, I didn't find fuel to be significantly cheaper than in the UK. Yes it is cheaper, but with the terrible exchange rate at the moment, it isn't a huge amount.

[BUFF]

I just have to say that when I recently drove through France and Spain, I didn't find fuel to be significantly cheaper than in the UK. Yes it is cheaper, but with the terrible exchange rate at the moment, it isn't a huge amount.

you don't know how the tax rules work there though (tbh neither do I) - there's a good reason why e.g. Eddie Stobart bases a chunk of the fleet outside the UK.

[eshrules]

you don't know how the tax rules work there though (tbh neither do I) - there's a good reason why e.g. Eddie Stobart bases a chunk of the fleet outside the UK.

are you sure that's correct? I know of at least 2/3 firms he's swallowed up in the last year or so that are UK based and they're not small (James Irlam springs to mind).

Re the petition, after all the go-slow protests, the blockades and the endless uproar, do we honestly think yet another online petition for a 'stealth' 2p duty that we knew was coming our way, will do anything?

Personally, I think there are bigger and more pressing issues we could be dealing with.

[arthurleung]

& unfortunately foreign hauliers with extra large tanks can fill up cheaper abroad & undercut UK-based firms ...
& VAT is reclaimable but fuel duty isn't.

Can't the UK hauliers do the same, filling up in abroad?

Although on a personal level I'd quite like to see a lot more long distance haulage go via rail: not sure we have the infrastructure to make it a reality anymore, but it'd get all those bloody lorries off my motorway (allowing my to drive faster and therefore pay more tax

Well, there is the eurotunnel, but that will probably put a lot of hauliers out of job which have more complication.

[scaryjim]

... there is the eurotunnel, but that will probably put a lot of hauliers out of job which have more complication.

I was thinking more in terms of within the UK, actually. I drive up and down the M6 quite a lot, and for big chunks of the journey the West Coast mainline runs within half a mile of the road. I don't see why most of the lorries that block the inner two lanes of the M6 for the vast majority of the route couldn't be got rid of by shipping all of that stuff by train up the west coast mainline and the distributing from smaller, local rail freight hubs.

But you're right, some hauliers would go out of business, and they're such philanthropic types that'd be a terrible thing...

[badass]

I don't have a problem with fuel duty going up. Modern cars are getting better on fuel with every revision. A BMW 330i now dows 38 MPG on the combined cycle and has 270 BHP and does 0-60 in 6.3 seconds. My 140 BHP MX-5 that only weighs a ton and is 10 years older only does 31 MPG combined.
Motoring has been getting cheaper ever since the car was first mass produced. There's only so much space on the road and making fuel more expensive should get rid of a few people off the road.
To save UK hauliers, I think we should charge duty on any fuel in a trucks tank. Use the money raised from that to properly monitor all lorry drivers foreign and domestic in the UK since those that can drive properly and aren't complete pr*ks on the road are in the minority.

[arthurleung]

I was thinking more in terms of within the UK, actually. I drive up and down the M6 quite a lot, and for big chunks of the journey the West Coast mainline runs within half a mile of the road. I don't see why most of the lorries that block the inner two lanes of the M6 for the vast majority of the route couldn't be got rid of by shipping all of that stuff by train up the west coast mainline and the distributing from smaller, local rail freight hubs.

But you're right, some hauliers would go out of business, and they're such philanthropic types that'd be a terrible thing...

Actually I'm wondering, why can't they modify lorries to run on rail, take a couple of them to form a road train, assuming that there is spare capacity on the rail, and the train signaling system can be adapted.

Could even share the cost of rail maintenance and make rail travel cheaper!

Rail freight hubs is not really that feasible i think, as UK is not that big, it only make the route that leads to the hub turn into a gridlock, not to mention how big of a hub needed to handle the volume? And queuing the containers at the hub means slower delivery time.