FORMER Cabinet ministers are lining up to demand Jeremy Hunt ditch the “taxi tax” by next month’s Budget.
Senior Tories want the Chancellor to abandon the 20 per cent levy to protect the cab industry and passengers who rely on private hire journeys.
AlamyFormer Cabinet ministers are demanding Jeremy Hunt ditch the ‘taxi tax’ by next month’s Budget[/caption]
GettySenior Tories want the Chancellor to abandon the 20 per cent levy to protect the cab industry[/caption]
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Sir Robert Buckland are among Tory grandees pushing Mr Hunt to also protect the taxi industry from the hike.
A total of 26 Tory MPs say it will help “protect jobs and livelihoods”.
They add: “This is not the time to kick the can down the road.”
One insider said: “Stopping the tax is a chance for the government to show it is sensitive to the pressures on consumers and businesses.”
They say the tax would hit those who cannot afford a car, such as the elderly — and claim that trips to hospitality venues would drop by a third.
A High Court judgement, following a legal battle with Uber, means taxi firms are responsible for charging VAT on the fares to the fury of campaigners.
Calls are being made for the Treasury to publish their planned consultation on the subject and then abandon the ‘taxi tax’ by the Budget on March 6.
A Treasury spokesman said: “After borrowing £400billion to protect livelihoods we had to take difficult decisions to help pay down the debt.”
AT-RISK ARE HIT HARDEST
THE unfair Taxi Tax flies in the face of our policies to ease living costs, says Tory MP Jonathan Gullis.
Vulnerable people rely on taxis to get to hospital or school.
The tax would also hit other sectors such as hospitality. It must be stopped in its tracks.
The public deserve a break, not another tax burden.