1.This section provides for changes to certain rates of vehicle excise duty (VED) by amendment of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (VERA). Changes to the rates take effect in relation to vehicle licences taken out on or after 1 April 2014.
2.Subsection (1) introduces tables which set rates of VED for rigid goods vehicles that draw trailers when such trailers may weigh 4,000kg or more and the vehicle 12,000kg or more. This includes a rate which is applicable where a vehicle does not fall within the tables introduced by the subsection.
3.Rates for these vehicles are to be determined by reference to the following new factors: the presence of road-friendly suspension on the vehicle; how many axles the vehicle has; the vehicle’s HGV road user levy banding; the trailer’s plated gross weight; and the total of that weight and the vehicle’s revenue weight.
4.Subsection (2) makes a consequential amendment to paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 1 of the HGV Road User Levy Act 2013 to refer to the new definition of relevant rigid goods vehicle which is being introduced by subsection 2.
5.VED rates for goods vehicles licensed in the United Kingdom are being reduced and restructured to offset the cost of HGV Road User Levy rates which will begin to take effect from 1 April 2014. The Levy only applies to goods vehicles weighing 12,000kg or more, and in the case of rigid goods vehicles that draw trailers only those drawing trailers weighing 4,000kg or more. It is intended to introduce a fairer arrangement for UK hauliers by ensuring that foreign hauliers pay to use roads in the UK.