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NFU calls for an end to 4x4 tax rises

Thursday, 14 August 2008

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Environmental Audit Committee are calling for the government to reverse its decision to increase car tax.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Environmental Audit Committee are calling for the Government to reverse its decision to increase car tax until an impact assessment is conducted.

The NFU has written to the Treasury asking for a derogation from any increase for genuine working farm vehicles. Farmers and shoot managers living in remote areas, where there is no option but to use a 4x4 ,would be hit by the proposed increase which could see their car tax rise from £210 to £440.

The NFU’s Meurig Raymond said that the tax unfairly penalises those who work in the countryside: “These 4x4 vehicles are essential working tools for many farms, and the proposed rebanding will see them unfairly disadvantaged. The findings of the minority report show that more evidence must be gathered to assess the benefits of the proposals.”

Committee member Graham Stuart MP said the Treasury’s failure to calculate the impact the changes will have on carbon emissions reveals a “cavalier attitude which gives environmental taxes a bad name”. His report described the changes as “unprecedented and retrospective”.