Clive Forsythe, director of sales and marketing at Masterlease, comments on today's Budget.

"The chancellor’s decision to stage the increase in fuel tax will be beneficial for both businesses and the exchequer.

 “There was speculation that the chancellor could reverse the increase of fuel prices from April 1, however it was largely expected that he would stand by his initial decision.

 

“The fact that the chancellor has decided to go ahead with the increase will ultimately protect revenue streams and help Britain take steps towards making up its deficit, whilst spreading the increase over a 10-month period will give businesses a little extra time to recover from the recession.

 

“Spreading the increase will lessen the impact on voters, and this makes it a good decision politically. It will also give the chancellor the opportunity to review the staged increase in October and January in line with oil prices and economic recovery.

 

”There has been much discussion of tax stabilizers being introduced in order to combat the fluctuations in oil/ fuel prices and come October or January, this may be the route that the chancellor decides to take, however whilst the government slows the increase in fuel duty, this is not be necessary.

“Following the announcement in the pre budget report of support packages for zero-carbon vehicles, today’s budget extends this support to cover ultra-low carbon vehicles (sub 75g CO2 per km), halving the percentage of the list price that is subject to company car tax for the next five years.

 

“While this announcement demonstrates the Chancellor’s dedication to green vehicles and may well provide benefits to businesses in due course, it will have limited initial impact as there are no vehicles on our quoting system that fit the criteria. As such, this decision will have no immediate impact on company cars and the taxes that businesses pay on them.”