2014 fuel duty rise cancelled

Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed in his Autumn Statement that the proposed 2014 fuel duty increase has been cancelled.

This means the scheduled 2p increase in tax on every litre of petrol will now no longer happen.

On Bing: see pictures of petrol prices

Tax disc to be scrapped after 93 years

This fuel duty increase was due to come into effect on 1 September 2014, but thanks to savings elsewhere in public finances the government has called it off.

This and the cancellation of previous fuel duty rises will have cost the public purse £22 billion in tax income over the life of this Parliament – something Osborne claimed is a “demonstration that we’re on the side of hardworking people in this country.”

Meanwhile, the difference in duty rate between conventional fuels and ‘road fuel gases such as compressed natural gas, liquid natural gas and biomethane’ will continue at current levels until March 2024.

The difference in duty between conventional fuel and liquid petroleum gas, however, will continue to fall at the rate of 1p per litre per year until March 2024.

The government will review the impact of both incentives in the 2018 Budget, and will seek EU approval to reduce duty rates on methanol.

The chancellor has also announced the government is still looking into extending the current fuel rebate for rural areas into other remote areas of the country, with a view to submitting an application for the extension to the EU in January.

And as we already know, road signs comparing the prices of fuel at motorway service stations are set to be trialled.

In non-fuel related motoring news, the statutory maximum cost of the annual MOT is to be frozen at the current £54.85 until 2015 – apparently representing a saving of £50 million for UK drivers. There are plans for new road infrastructure investment, too.

But the biggest car news in the 2013 Autumn Statement remains the impending death of the tax disc. We’re going to miss that little guy.

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Tax disc to be scrapped after 93 years

By motoringresearch.com