Campaigners have urged the chancellor to reject proposals for a new vehicle acquisition tax based on weight, warning that it would unfairly penalise farmers and rural workers.
Reports emerged last week that the UK office of Transport and Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based campaign group, has lobbied the Treasury to introduce the measure in November’s budget.
T&E argues that heavier vehicles produce higher emissions, damage roads, and should be taxed accordingly. The group estimates the levy could raise up to £1.72 billion a year to help reduce the UK’s £50 billion fiscal deficit.
In a letter to the chancellor, the Countryside Alliance has highlighted research showing that rural residents already pay significantly more for transport.
Households in the countryside spend almost £800 more each year on fuel compared with those in towns and cities, and face pump prices as much as 6 pence per litre higher.
According to Defra, rural residents also travel further — averaging 5,767 miles annually against 3,624 miles for their urban counterparts.
The alliance argues that taxing heavier vehicles would only deepen these disparities. Farmers, gamekeepers and contractors require larger, all-terrain vehicles to carry out their jobs, while even ordinary drivers often need sturdier vehicles to cope with poor road conditions.
David Bean, the alliance's government relations manager, described the proposals as unacceptable: “Not content with the chancellor’s failed attempt last year to balance the nation’s budget on the backs of farmers, campaigners are now lobbying her to balance it on all rural dwellers who need larger vehicles to get around.”
He added: “People in the countryside already pay over the odds for transport, but taxing vehicle purchases by weight would make the problem worse still.
"Farmers, gamekeepers, and ordinary drivers – especially the most vulnerable – depend on sturdier, higher-performance vehicles when travelling the fields, hills and lanes that define rural Britain. This plan risks pricing them off the roads and out of their jobs.”
Bean warned that after the anger sparked by last year’s 'family farm tax,' the chancellor “needs to be more sensitive than ever to the needs of rural working people. She should file this proposal in the bin.”
The Countryside Alliance urged the chancellor to reject the plan outright and to ensure rural communities are not overlooked in fiscal policy. It pledged to continue lobbying ahead of the budget and beyond.
The Treasury has not yet confirmed whether a weight-based vehicle tax will be included in November’s budget.
