§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to reform company car taxation so as to remove the incentive to increase business mileage. [62423]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 8 December 1998]: The Chancellor announced in the March Budget that he would be considering, in relation to income tax charged on company cars, the case for replacing the existing business mileage discounts with discounts for driving fewer private miles. People were invited (Budget 98 Press Release Inland Revenue 6) to send comments to the Inland Revenue. As stated in the Pre-Budget Report (paragraphs 5.52 to 5.54), in the light of the views expressed, we are continuing to review how the company car tax regime might be altered to send better environmental signals.