Clause 8 - Definition of ''fuel oil''
Finance Bill
10:45 am
Mr Andrew Tyrie (Chichester, Conservative)
The clause is a relatively minor anti-avoidance measure and should not detain the Committee for too long. The measure is designed to capture in tax the atmospheric residue that is left after the refining process. As far as I know, only one product will be affected by the measure: PULSAR, which is being sold by a relatively small number of companies. The Economic Secretary will be able to confirm whether that is the case—I think that I have already had that confirmation.
I have only one question of substance: are there any other perceived abuses—that is clearly what the Government consider is going on in this instance—which the Government intend to bring into the duty charge under the proposed statutory instrument? The clause falls into a category in which a relatively general anti-avoidance measure is introduced to cover a very specific issue. As my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs said much earlier, he deprecates clauses that can have more general effects. I would like clarification from the Economic Secretary.