Clause 59
Finance (No.2) Bill
10:45 am
Rob Marris (Wolverhampton South West, Labour)
The Government introduced the regime to change the way in which company cars are taxed several years ago. I think that I am right in saying that the majority of new cars bought in the United Kingdom are still company cars. The Government have had huge success with the regime. It has really changed the way in which company cars are bought, and the CO2 emissions of the company car fleet have been falling year on year in contrast to the CO2 emissions of private average cars, which have been increasing in the past couple of years.
My hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury would probably term what I am about to say as an early bid for next year. I welcome the proposals under clause 59 at the lower end of the scale so that, when the 3 per cent. diesel supplement is dropped, some cars will drop to a 10 per cent. valuation for company car tax purposes. However, having had such success with changing buying plans for company cars in recent years, the Government have missed a major opportunity by not greatly increasing the figure at the upper end of the scale. I urge my hon. Friend to take such action next year.