RAC Pre-Budget statement 2009
Ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, the RAC has outlined what it hopes the Chancellor will deliver from his red briefcase in order to guarantee a fair deal for motorists.
Would be great to know what you think too.
RAC Motoring Strategist Adrian Tink outlined his thoughts as follows:
On a potential car scrappage scheme
“The RAC is in favour of a car scrappage scheme in principle, but it is vitally important that the scheme that is proposed is the correct one. This means balancing the economic benefits to both manufacturers and motorists with positive environmental benefits. The scheme needs to be as much about removing old, polluting cars from the road as it is about generating new sales.
“In conjunction with Thursday’s announcement regarding incentives to buy electric vehicles, this scheme has the potential, if introduced correctly, to further drive the rise of more environmentally friendly motoring. RAC believes therefore that the purchase of any new car under the scheme should limit the CO2 emissions of that new vehicle and we suggest that this figure should be set no higher than the European Union target for 2012 of 130g/km.
“Finally, we would urge the Government to include the purchase of ‘nearly-new’ vehicles that are less than 2 years old in the scheme in order to further encourage the trading in of older models.â€
On Fuel Duty
“Prices at the pump have been on a steady rise since Christmas with the 1 April duty increase accelerating the rise in recent weeks.
“The Government needs to stop viewing motorists pockets as a bottomless pit. When the Government cut VAT to 15% last year, they chose to exclude motorists from this benefit by raising fuel duty by a corresponding amount. With motorists still paying their extra 2.5%, we urge the Government to resist the temptation for further rises in fuel duty in next week’s Budget and call for them to remove the additional duty once VAT returns to 17.5%â€
On Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)
“RAC welcomed the announcement in the 2008 pre-Budget report that VED will increase by no more than £5 in 2009. Given the new bands would have seen some average motorists being hit by a £90 increase, this was a positive move by the Government. The changes that will see higher emitting cars charged more and lower emitting cars seeing a reduction in their charges were also welcomed by motorists according to our 2008 Report on Motoring. However we do feel the retrospective element of the tax is unfair and penalises motorists for purchasing decisions made prior to the changes.
“The Government also needs to better communicate these changes in order to explain how motorists will be affected on an individual basis and to assist them in understanding what level of emissions their own cars omit.â€
Ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, the RAC has outlined what it hopes the Chancellor will deliver from his red briefcase in order to guarantee a fair deal for motorists.
Would be great to know what you think too.
RAC Motoring Strategist Adrian Tink outlined his thoughts as follows:
On a potential car scrappage scheme
“The RAC is in favour of a car scrappage scheme in principle, but it is vitally important that the scheme that is proposed is the correct one. This means balancing the economic benefits to both manufacturers and motorists with positive environmental benefits. The scheme needs to be as much about removing old, polluting cars from the road as it is about generating new sales.
“In conjunction with Thursday’s announcement regarding incentives to buy electric vehicles, this scheme has the potential, if introduced correctly, to further drive the rise of more environmentally friendly motoring. RAC believes therefore that the purchase of any new car under the scheme should limit the CO2 emissions of that new vehicle and we suggest that this figure should be set no higher than the European Union target for 2012 of 130g/km.
“Finally, we would urge the Government to include the purchase of ‘nearly-new’ vehicles that are less than 2 years old in the scheme in order to further encourage the trading in of older models.â€
On Fuel Duty
“Prices at the pump have been on a steady rise since Christmas with the 1 April duty increase accelerating the rise in recent weeks.
“The Government needs to stop viewing motorists pockets as a bottomless pit. When the Government cut VAT to 15% last year, they chose to exclude motorists from this benefit by raising fuel duty by a corresponding amount. With motorists still paying their extra 2.5%, we urge the Government to resist the temptation for further rises in fuel duty in next week’s Budget and call for them to remove the additional duty once VAT returns to 17.5%â€
On Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)
“RAC welcomed the announcement in the 2008 pre-Budget report that VED will increase by no more than £5 in 2009. Given the new bands would have seen some average motorists being hit by a £90 increase, this was a positive move by the Government. The changes that will see higher emitting cars charged more and lower emitting cars seeing a reduction in their charges were also welcomed by motorists according to our 2008 Report on Motoring. However we do feel the retrospective element of the tax is unfair and penalises motorists for purchasing decisions made prior to the changes.
“The Government also needs to better communicate these changes in order to explain how motorists will be affected on an individual basis and to assist them in understanding what level of emissions their own cars omit.â€
