Chancellor reduces Vehicle Excise Duty on motorhomes and campervans

A statement by the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, in today’s Budget confirmed that the rise in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), which was imposed on new motorhomes, is to be reversed.

The tax increase of up to 705% had been levied from 1 September 2019 on newly registered motorhomes fitted with the new generation, greener, more energy efficient engines. The trade association for the leisure vehicle industry, the National Caravan Council (NCC), immediately began its #fairmotorhometax campaign. By March 2020, the campaigning was backed by 85 cross-party MPs.

For more information visit www.fairmotorhometax.org

NCC Director General, John Lally, said...

“We have had extraordinary support from Parliamentarians – too many to mention them all - but in particular Richard Holden MP, Sir David Amess MP, Emma Hardy MP, Karl Turner MP and David Davis MP. Rishi Sunak MP – prior to becoming Chancellor - had also indicated support.

Alongside the NCC, its members and the wider industry, these MPs worked tirelessly to reverse this increase, knowing the impact it would have on British manufacturing, on jobs and, potentially, on UK tourism. We offer our thanks to all of them and to the media, who highlighted how unfair the tax was.

Early in 2019 when the rise was first mooted, the NCC immediately mobilized its forces. For nearly a year, NCC Deputy Director General Alicia Dunne and the team have highlighted the issue, met with Treasury, briefed dozens of MPs, researched possible impacts and liaised with the industry to try to get the rise reversed. Today, we have got the result we have been working for – a huge boost for British manufacturing.

Leisure vehicle manufacturing is a British success story. The steady growth the motorhome industry had seen up to the time of the tax hike was almost instantly halted. We are delighted that our new Chancellor has so quickly understood that motorhomes and campervans should not be taxed as cars, that he has shown concern about the threats to our industry and taken this action to preserve jobs.

Motorhomes will now return to being taxed as vans, which is logical as the vast majority are based on a commercial vehicle chassis. This is an amazing result for us, for this vibrant manufacturing industry and for the many thousands who take motorhoming holidays – the vast majority in the UK – each year.”

James Turner, Managing Director, Swift Group Ltd said...

“This is an incredibly important result for our industry, it will without doubt resonate with our loyal customers, which in turn will give all businesses within the entire supply chain the opportunity and the confidence they need. Our gratitude extends to all those involved for their support, with special thanks to the NCC and our local MP David Davis.”