Autumn Statement 2012: The government is to delay the £3.02p per litre fuel duty increase planned for 1 January 2013 to 1 September 2013.
This means that there will be only one fuel duty increase in 2013, and that subsequent increases will take effect on 1 September each year instead of 1 April.
This is the second delay to the fuel duty increase.
Chancellor George Osborne first announced the increase for 1 August 2012 in his 2012 Budget statement in March. But the government announced that the increase would be deferred to 1 January 2013 in June.
Fuel duty was a rare chink of light in a gloomy Autumn Statement, but it’s important for fleet operators to keep relatively small movements in pump prices like this in perspective.
It will make a difference of around 40p to 50p a week, per car, to the typical cost of business fuel. A driver only has to claim one extra mile per week on AMAPs or three extra miles on the Advisory Fuel Rates to negate the effects of the Chancellor’s decision.
As our data show that over-claiming usually runs at much higher rates – typically as much as 25% of total mileage claims – it is vital to approach fuel and mileage bills from the right direction. When fleets look after the mileage pounds, the fuel price pennies look after themselves.