Backlash at tax plans to force white van man to go green

A BACKLAsH is looming over plans to make ‘white van man’ go green.

The Treasury is considering further reforms to Vehicle Excise Duty that would provide tax breaks to drivers who buy new low-emission vans.

There are fears this will be paid for by increasing taxes for many traditional, gasguzzling diesel vans.

The Treasury confirmed yesterday it has opened a consultation on scrapping the £250 flat rate of VED for vans.

It is considering a graduated first year system like that used for cars, where the level of duty in the first 12 months depends on emissions. New cars with the highest carbon emissions can incur VED of up to £2,070 in the first year of ownership.

The Treasury said fewer than one in every 200 vans bought in 2016/17 was an ultra-low emission model powered by electricity, hydrogen or a hybrid engine.

Exchequer secretary to the Treasury Robert Jenrick said: ‘We want to be the first government to leave the environment in a better state than we found it.

‘One of the ways we can do this is by using the tax system to help drivers afford greener choices. We want to help “white van man” go green.’

But the plans are likely to be unpopular among the country’s 2.5million van drivers if they lead to higher taxes for less environmentally friendly vehicles.

Howard Cox, of the campaign group FairFuelUK, said: ‘Dabbling with VED tax structures to move white van drivers to cleaner vehicles will hit many hard-working van drivers in the pocket.

‘There are proven ways to lower existing vehicle emissions without always resorting to hitting small businesses with unnecessary tax hikes.’