Filling the tank gets even more expensive

Mar 15 2010 by Evening Gazette

PRICES at the pumps have risen 27% over the past 12 months, the RAC said today, ramping up the Government’s tax take.

The average price is now above 115p a litre, compared with around 90.7p a litre a year ago.

In April 2009 there was a 1.84p fuel duty rise followed by a further rise of 2p in September.

On January 1 2010, VAT increased by 2.5%, causing a further increase of around 2.5p a litre. Fuel duty is set to rise on April 1 by inflation, currently running at around 3%, plus 1p.

RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink echoed the Chamber’s call for a taxation rethink.

“The Government needs to take a close look at the proposed fuel duty rise in April. When this was announced in last year’s Budget, petrol prices were well below the £1 a litre mark,” he said. “Now they’re heading back towards the record highs of 2008, helped along the way by the Government’s taxation policy.”

Meanwhile, MPs on the Transport Select Committee put a price on what road users paid in taxes and duties at a whopping £48bn a year. Chairwoman Labour’s Louise Ellman said the overall cost to the nation was “a great deal more” than widely believed and called for greater transparency over how the Treasury spent the money, given that the annual cost for maintaining roads amounted to just £9bn a year.