Friday, November 24th, 2017
The 2017 Budget for Motorists.
So, how do you feel after the budget ?
Lets see what it could mean for you –
First the good news:
There will be no immediate increase in fuel duty although Diesel is averaging £1.23p per litre which is the highest it has been for some time. Chancellor Philip Hammond has decided against an increase which means it is still at the same level since March 2011.
A fund of £45 million has been made available to sort out the thousands of pot holes on the countries roads.
In a bid to promote the use of electric vehicles £200 million will be made available to provide more charging points.
It is hoped that the figure will be matched by private funds. This move should generate greater confidence for people to get to their destinations with no risk of running out of charge. Mr Hammond said “Our future vehicles will be driver-less but they’ll be electric first and that’s a change that needs to come as soon as possible for our planet”.
The bad bits:
From April 1st 2018 any diesel cars sold will go up a tax band unless they conform to “Real Driving Emissions step 2 standards”. (Although these standards don’t become law until 2020).
Company car tax rates for new diesel cars that don’t comply with RDE2 will change from the current 3% to 4% even though Mr. Hammond previously said he would give at least 3 years notice before he changed the rates for company cars. However, existing diesel company cars will not be affected by the changes.
The proceeds from the new taxes will be channelled into a clean air fund.