Other Taxes - Nov 2008

Business Rates
From 1 April 2008 most empty business properties became liable to business rates, when previously empty properties were exempt from rates. After much protest, and a number of instances where properties were demolished, the exemption from business rates is to be applied to all properties with a rateable value of less than £15,000 for the tax year 2009/10 only.

Car tax (vehicle excise duty)
There was a lot of fuss after the Budget in March 2008 over the proposed increases in car tax (VED) for older cars registered after 1 March 2001. These increases in VED have now been scaled back to £5 per car per year for most cars for 2009/10, but larger increases will apply for new polluting cars.

Excise Duties
Just to prove this was a real Budget the duties on cigarettes increased from 6pm on 24 November 2008. Duties on wine and spirits go up from 1 December 2008. To compensate for the reduction in VAT, fuel duties are also to increase from 1 December 2008 and then again on 1 April 2009!