Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has received a new demand to use his forthcoming Spring Budget to scrap the Taxi Tax once and for all.
Campaigners against plans to hike taxes on private hire vehicles have told Mr Hunt to “stop kicking the can down the road”, before the levy comes in.
The Chancellor has also been warned that the 20 percent VAT price hike, which 7 in 10 Britons oppose, will hurt the vulnerable the hardest.
Those who rely on taxis and cabs to get to the shops, hospital or see friends and family will feel the starkest pinch in their pocket.
However low-tax crusaders have also warned the average price increase will still be a whopping £200 per year.
Business groups – including the Federation of Small Businesses, the Beer & Pub Association, and women’s safety charities – have all joined forces to call on the Chancellor to scrap the tax, ahead of a planned Parliamentary event next week.
Gareth Cadwallader, spokesman for the Stop the Taxi Tax campaign, has now demanded “immediate action by the Government” ahead of “widespread damage to livelihoods, communities and businesses across the UK”.
“The Chancellor needs to act now rather than kicking the can down the road. With minicabs critical for so many – including the most vulnerable in our society – this is an issue that must be addressed either at or before the Spring Budget.
“We urge all those opposed to join our petition to ramp up pressure on the Chancellor against this harmful tax.”
The petition, launched tonight on the 38 Degrees website, will see signatories demand the Chancellor doesn’t use a so-called ‘consultation’ to “kick the issue into the long grass”.
The Treasury announced it would begin its consultation in early 2024, however they can be used by Governments to avoid making decisions on potentially controversial or unpopular policies.
According to the YouGov poll, nearly seven in ten Tory supporters believe the levy is unfair, with almost two-thirds of those who backed Boris Johnson in 2019 saying they would “think worse of any party which tried to impose the increase”.
The polling also proved vulnerable people most angry at the prospect of the Treasury cash-grab.
Retired people (75 percent), those with mobility issues (74 percent), low-income households (71 percent) and women (71 percent) are among those most strongly opposed to the tax.
Jeremy Hunt has announced he will deliver his Spring Budget on March 6.
