A £100m company van "tax raid" from the Government is set to catch more than three out of five tradespeople off guard, a new poll has suggested.
In a plan announced in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement, basic rate taxpayers currently paying £720 as a benefit in kind to use company vans for personal journeys will pay an additional 10% or £72 a year from April 6 next year. Higher rate taxpayers face a £144 extra annual charge.
And in a survey by online vehicle marketplace Auto Trader, some 62% of respondents said they were unaware of the looming rise in van tax.
Increasing the tax in line with the Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation – currently near 40-year highs – will raise an extra £15m a year, according to Treasury forecasts, which will be worth more than £100m by 2030. April’s tax rise follows soaring fuel costs after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The results of Auto Trader’s poll, shared with the PA news agency, showed more than a quarter (27%) of van drivers have been hit by at least £500 in extra running costs this year.
Meanwhile the average price of used vans on its marketplace has risen by £1,300, or 7%, to £19,429 since November 2021. New vans have seen an even bigger rise – up £4,300, or 14%, to £33,821 amid supply problems.
An Auto Trader spokesman said: “Our findings show that the new fresh tax raid coming their way in April will be a complete shock to most van drivers, adding to the heavy burden that they’ve already faced this year.
“It might even be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for many of them.”
In his autumn statement, the Chancellor also announced new zero-emission cars will no longer be exempt from vehicle excise duty from April 2025.
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