BVRLA News
www.bvrla.co.uk June 2010
The newsletter of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association
‘Axe tax discs to save £90m a year,’ says Lewis The BVRLA has advised Chancellor George Osborne that he can make instant progress in cutting government waste by abolishing the tax disc and allowing the purchase of multi-year Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). The suggestions came in a submission ahead of the Emergency Budget Report on 22 June. More than 34 million tax discs are produced each year and the BVRLA estimates that abolishing them could save the government over £90m a year in administration costs. With the use of automatic number plate recognition cameras and continuous registration laws there is no longer a need for tax discs to be displayed on windscreens. “Not having to display a tax disc would reduce the burden on fleet owners, who would no longer have to distribute them to drivers or retrieve them when they were seeking to obtain a refund,” said BVRLA chief executive John Lewis. The BVRLA believes that introducing the ability to purchase multi-year VED would
The BVRLA has won the Editor’s Award in the 2010 Fleet World Honours – presented to motor manufacturers, service companies and individuals who have achieved “the highest possible level of excellence” in their sector. Steve Moody, Fleet World editor and chair of the judging panel, said: “The last couple of years have seen unprecedented strain put upon the fleet market, from a wide range of dangers… and fighting the industry’s corner in the corridors of power and finance has been the BVRLA, negotiating on scrappage, talking to the lenders and government, hosting RV [residual value] summits and so on – and in doing so keeping the fleet industry’s wheels moving.” Pictured (from left): Nigel Davies, sales and marketing director of award sponsor Auto Windscreens, BVRLA chief executive John Lewis, and Steve Moody.
save the industry between £2m and £5m in administration costs each year, as well as improving cash flow to the Exchequer. “Having previously shared our proposals with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, we know that it is equally keen to see this measure pursued,” Lewis added. The BVRLA also outlined a number of simple changes the government could make to the company car tax regime in light of its “simpler and more efficient” agenda. In particular, it calls for a removal of the 3% diesel supplement in benefit-in-kind tax for company cars and fuel. “Removing this historically out-of-date, pollution-related penalty would accelerate further corporate adoption of these vehicles and help to push company car CO2 emissions even lower,” said Lewis. “We accept that, in the current economic climate, there may be a need to make compensatory adjustments to the benefitin-kind base lines in order to neutralise the tax take.” n
bvrla.co.uk
In this issue Leasing companies keep ‘end user’ status European Commission guidelines clarify position of leasing companies page 2 ‘Chargebacks’ are the top card concern Leaseurope addresses payment card schemes page 2 DfT offers HGV drivers more carrot, less stick Department for Transport switches focus from vehicles to drivers, with education its watchword page 3 TfL proposes host of congestion charge changes Transport for London is consulting on the future of the capital’s congestion charge scheme page 3 Company cars, costs and carbon A PwC survey reveals the key issues for fleet managers page 5 Hertz man becomes BVRLA’s vice chair Neil Cunningham is the association’s new vice chairman page 6
— Promoting responsible road transport since 1967 —