1.This section provides for the rate of vehicle excise duty (VED) payable for a six month vehicle licence for a vehicle subject to HGV road user levy 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.Subsections (2) and (3) introduce subsection (2A) to section 4 of VERA to set the six month rate of VED at fifty per cent of the applicable annual rate where the vehicle licence is being taken out in respect of a vehicle that is subject to HGV road user levy.
3.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.