New company car mileage rates

Story: admin | Posted 12 December 2011 | In News

Tagged with: Business mileage rates, fuel costs, slider

New business mileage rates: what about duty rise?

IF you’re a company car driver, you better just hope that Chancellor Osborne comes up with the goods in his Autumn Statement on Tuesday 29 November.

We’re talking about the suspension of the fuel duty hike proposed for January 01 2012 that will see fuel going up by 3.02p per litre – about 15p a gallon in old money – unless the Chancellor grasps the reality of the increasing cost of motoring to businesses and families. But there’s more to this for company car drivers: HMRC has just announced the latest business mileage rates for company car drivers, which run from the beginning of December, remain static. These are known as the Advisory Fuel Rates (or AFRs for short). So if you run a company car, and the fuel duty goes up, you’ll be seriously out of pocket – because the next change in the AFR rates doesn’t come until 01 March 2012.

Fuel rise to cost industry £325m Freight Transport Association (FTA) says fuel duty rise will cost industry an annual bill of £325m. The FTA says an SME-sized haulier operating 10 lorries will have seen its annual fuel costs increase by £65,000 in the last year. With a planned 3.02ppl rise scheduled for January and a further rise planned for August, this would heap at least a further £23,000 of cost for such a business in 2012. Simon Chapman, FTA chief economist, said: “With the economy stalled, the imperative for the Chancellor is to get the wheels of industry turning once more. Industry relies on diesel to move goods around the country, with diesel costs representing over a third of the costs of transport. A hike in duty at this time leaves carriers with nowhere to go.”

Islanders to get cheaper fuel
From March 2012 motorists in remote island communities will benefit from a 5 pence a litre fuel discount.
The announcement came after the Government received final EU clearance to operate its rural fuel rebate pilot scheme in the Inner & Outer Hebrides, Northern Isles, islands in the Clyde and the Isles of Scilly.
The government says the scheme will bring much needed relief to remote islands, where pump prices are particularly high due to transportation costs.
To ensure that retailers suffer no cashflow problems in passing on the discount from 1 March, they will be able to claim the 5p rebate from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on fuel purchased from 1 January next year.