Haulage businesses have called for the government to lower the rate of tax they take at the pump after West Yorkshire diesel prices reached £198.07 per litre on Tuesday.
Joanne Gilbert from Gilbert Transport in Garforth says the price of diesel is squeezing the business significantly.
She added, “We’ve been serving the UK market for 30 years, and small businesses like us are the backbone of this country. You cannot build an economy on taxing small business.”
A spokesperson for fuel research charity the RAC Foundation said, “The government needs to recognise the pain being caused at the pumps. It’s within the gift of the chancellor to ease the misery that we see on the forecourts with a swipe of his pen.”
Source: Archie Simpson Tarling“The chancellor is collecting more than 80 pence per litre in taxation for every litre of petrol and diesel sold. That’s well over 40% of everything drivers and businesses are paying.”
The government collects 20% VAT on fuel as well as fuel duty, which means that as the cost of diesel rises, so does the treasury’s take.
Fuel duty on Diesel is set to rise to 55.95p/litre in January 2027, and again in March to 57.95p/litre.
Simon Church is a depot manager at George Varney Bulk Services, and says fuel takes up around 30% of their costs. He said, “Every week there’s somebody going out of business. Every time I pick up Commercial Motor or Motor Transport, somebody else is going into administration”.
“The government need to encourage business growth, rather than taxing everyone to death.”