UK finance chief may scrap fuel duty reduction in upcoming budget
British finance minister Rachel Reeves might end a temporary fuel duty cut in the next budget Treasury officials suggest ending a long-standing fuel duty freeze‚ potentially impacting drivers and government finances
In the upcoming budget announcement Rachel Reeves‚ the British finance minister is thinking about stopping the short-term five pence cut in fuel duty starting next year‚ The Financial Times says (people who know about the chancellors ideas told them this). The Treasury department has also told Reeves to stop the fuel duty freeze thats been going on for 13 years
A person who speaks for the Treasury said: “We dont talk about guesses about tax changes outside of times when we announce money stuff“
The amount people pay for car fuels hasnt gone up since 10/11/2011 except for a short-time cut in the 2022/23 tax year; governments were scared drivers – specially those in places far from cities – would get angry if they raised it. When the last group in charge didnt make the fuel duty go up like it was supposed to in the budget they showed in 03/2024‚ it made the government have about 3 billion pounds less money for 2024/25
We do not comment on speculation around tax changes outside of fiscal events
The choice about fuel duty is tricky – it affects how much money the government has and also how much people have to pay for driving. If Reeves decides to end both the temporary cut and the long freeze‚ it could mean drivers will need to pay more but the government will have more money to use
Experts say this move might not be liked by many people‚ but some think its needed to help with the countrys money problems. The government has to think about both keeping people happy and making sure they have enough money for other important things
