§ A vehicle falling within paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section four of the Vehicles (Excise) Act, 1949 (which relates to ploughing engines, tractors and other agricultural engines), shall not be chargeable with duty under section five of that Act as a goods vehicle by reason of the fact that it is constructed or adapted for use and used for the conveyance of farming or forestry implements fittted thereto for operation while so fitted.—[Mr. Boyd-Carpenter.]
§ Brought up, and read the First time.
§ The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. John Boyd-Carpenter)I beg to move, "That the Clause be read a Second time."
§ This new Clause is designed to secure that an agricultural or forestry tractor does not lose the advantage of the low rate of tax appropriate to agricultural and forestry tractors by reason of the fact that it has mounted on it some form of agricultural implements. It has been pointed out by the National Farmers' Union and a number of hon. Members that there is an increasing custom of mounting some agricultural implement or other on a tractor and some doubt as to what is to be the result of a recent decision of magistrates on whether the mounting of such an implement upon a tractor had the effect of depriving the tractor of the low rate of duty. The Clause is designed to make quite clear that the tractor retains the low rate of duty appropriate to a tractor, whatever implement is mounted upon it.
§ I ought, at the same time, to say that the inter-connected problem of the transport box has so far defied satisfactory definition. I am very glad, however, that so far as the mounting of an agricultural implement on a tractor is concerned we have found what we believe to be a solution to the difficulty
§ Question put, and agreed to.
§ Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.