George
Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the Conservative-LibDem Coalition
government, presented his annual Autumn Statement or Mini-Budget to the House
of Commons on Thursday 5th December 2013. As usual we have a prompt report on
the measures announced which will be of interest to the classic motoring enthusiast,
posted within 30 minutes of the Chancellor sitting down.
Autumn
Statement or Mini-Budget
The
Budget provided an update on the Government’s plans for the economy based
on the latest forecasts published alongside the Statement by the Office for Budget
Responsibility. Full details of the announcements are available on the HM Treasury
website following the Chancellor's statement to Parliament but as usual we have
a prompt report on the measures announced which will be of interest for the classic
motoring enthusiast.
Autumn
Statement 2013 from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. More
HM
Treasury support document.
Support document for the Autumn Statement 2013
released by HM Treasury. More
Budget
Statement in March 2013
See our report. More
Updated:
131205 @ 1630
Posted: 131205 @ 1210
Draft Finance Bill 2014
will be published next week for consultation
The Treasury will publish
the draft Finance Bill 2014 on Tuesday 10th December 2013 with the aim of consulting
with the public and representative bodies (like the FBHVC) to ensure the legislation
will work as intended. That draft Finance Bill 2014 will include draft clauses
on the end of paper road tax discs and the online VED payment measures
announced in the Autumn Statement 2013 together with the VED exemption extension
change announced in the Budget 2013 in March (see below) when it is published
on Tuesday. That will also include the Explanatory Notes (EN) and Tax Information
and Impact Notes (TIIN). The consultation on the draft legislation will be open
until 4th February 2014. More
See
draft Finance Bill 2014 released on 10th December 2013. More
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Fuel
duty increase frozen
the
fuel duty increase planned for September 2014, expected to be worth 1.61p a litre,
will be frozen. Taken with the associated VAT that's a saving of 2p a litre.
Together with the earlier removal of the fuel duty escalator and freezing earlier
planned fuel duty increases that likely to amount to around 20p a litre by 2015
- a saving of over £11 for a full tank.
More
Vehicle
road tax discs to be scrapped
As expected the Chancellor announced in his
Autumn Statement that paper tax discs are to disappear and instead of displaying
a disc to prove that a car is fully taxed, motorists will instead register their
car online. Checks will then be made by traffic cameras which will then automatically
track vehicles on the road and identify those that are not registered as having
paid vehicle excise duty or road tax. The change is part of the trend to provide
paperless services online.
A
BBC report noted tax discs were introduced in 1921 and it remains a legal obligation
for vehicles on the public highway to display a valid disc. The change will allow
people to pay the annual charge via a monthly direct debit. The Treasury said
it showed the Government was moving "into the modern age". More
MOT
price frozen until 2015
Another announcement in the support document is
the statutory maximum price of the MOT test for a car will be frozen at £54.85
until 2015, a total saving of £50m for motorists. More
High
cost of motor fuel on motorways
The support document says "the Government
is taking further action to bring down the high costs of fuel on motorways. New
price comparison road signs will be trialled which will show prices at different
service stations along the route, making it easier for drivers to find the cheapest
deal and encouraging competition on prices". More
VED:
Classic Vehicle Exemption Extension
The HM Treasury support document for
the Budget in March 2013 included a paragraph announcing the Government will extend
the cut off date from which classic vehicles are exempt from VED by one year.
From 1st April 2014 a vehicle manufactured before 1st January 1974 will
be exempt from paying VED. (Para 2.148, page 84) HM
Treasury & VED exemption
Updated
131210 & Posted: 131206 |
