Fuel Duty rise abolishment provides 'sigh of relief' for small firms

The scrapping of a planned 3p rise in Fuel Duty next January will result in a "sigh of relief" for small firms because of the number of enterprises that use vehicles.

That is according to John Walker, National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), who said that eight out of ten small rely on cars or vans in what they do.

But he also called on Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to consider scrapping the planned September 2013 rise as well to help small businesses further.

"Over half of small businesses believe that rising fuel prices are one of the main reasons for increased business costs," he explained.

"Government needs to take the politics out of fuel prices once and for all and look at ways of raising revenue that gives road users greater certainty as to what their overheads will be from one Budget to the next."

Furthermore, Mr Osborne announced that the Annual Investment Allowance will be increasing to £250,000 to provide small firms with tax relief on more plant and machinery.

Date published 6 Dec 2012 | Last updated 6 Dec 2012