Will the HGV Levy be reintroduced Aug 2023?

Normally every heavy goods truck that weighs more than 12 tonnes must pay a fee to cover the costs of maintaining UK roads. The UK Government suspended the levy on August 1st, 2020, and that has lasted throughout the Covid19 pandemic.

However, starting on July 31, 2023, these fees could be levied once again.

The HGV Road User Levy Act of 2013 established the tax, which went into effect on April 1, 2014. Since 2019 less polluting trucks have paid lower taxes, with payments collected by the DVLA.

The latest HGVs now emit 80 percent less nitrogen oxide (NOx) than older ones. As a result, vehicles that satisfy the most recent Euro 6 emissions criteria have been eligible for a 10% reduction in the cost of the HGV levy. While vehicles satisfying Euro Class V and older i.e. those introduced between January 2011 and September 2015 - must pay up to 20 percent more.

Earlier in 2022 the Department for Transport launched a consultation regarding the HGV Levy, seeking opinion on how it should be charged in the future, that consultation concluded on 18th July 2022. The results are now being assessed with an announcement expected soon.

Their proposal is to:

• Align the suspended HGV levy with the environmental performance of the vehicle, using the weight of the HGV to approximate the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the vehicle
• Ensure that the levy liability is as closely aligned as possible to when a foreign vehicle is used on a major road
• Or whether the current structure should be retained.

The prior HGV levy included the following factors:

• Vehicle type (rigid, rigid with trailer, articulated)
• Number of axles
• Vehicle weight
• Pollutants, as indicated by the vehicle's EURO emissions class.

It included 22 bands (eleven main bands, each divided into two emission class bands).

It is proposed that the revised HGV Levy would be based only on:

• Vehicle weight (as an approximate proxy for CO2 emissions)
• Pollutants, as indicated by the vehicle's EURO emissions class.

It would only have six bands (three major bands separated into two emission class bands each).

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The proposed new HGV levy charges when first suggested in June 2020 were:

If these fees are imposed on top of already-inflated diesel fuel prices, transport and delivery businesses would face an additional expense per HGV that must be absorbed or passed on to customers.

It will not be possible for fleets to easily and quickly swap out all of their older or diesel-powered vehicles and have them replaced with newer, lower-emission replacements. Therefore, companies should do all they can now to reduce the miles driven and optimise their future deliveries, increasing delivery density per vehicle and reduce cost per delivery.

Discover how delivery route scheduling can facilitate this.