Finance (No. 2) Act 1997

Part II U.K. Value Added Tax and Excise Duties

Value Added TaxU.K.

F16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .U.K.

Alcoholic liquor dutiesU.K.

7 Rate of duty on spirits.U.K.

(1)In section 5 of the M1Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 (spirits), for “£18.99” there shall be substituted “ £19.56 ”.

(2)This section shall come into force on 1st January 1998.

8 Rate of duty on beer.U.K.

(1)In section 36(1) of the Alocoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 (beer), for “£10.82” there shall be substituted “ £11.14 ”.

(2)This section shall come into force on 1st January 1998.

9 Rates of duty on wine and made-wine.U.K.

(1)For the Table of rates of duty in Schedule 1 to the Alocoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 (wine and made-wine) there shall be substituted—

“Table of Rates of Duty on Wine and Made-Wine

Part I U.K. Wine or Made-Wine of a Strength not Exceeding 22 Per Cent.

Part II U.K. Wine or Made-Wine of a Strength Exceeding 22 Per Cent.

(2)This section shall come into force on 1st January 1998.

10 Rates of duty on cider.U.K.

(1)In section 62 of the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 (cider), for subsection (1A) there shall be substituted—

“(1A)The rates at which the duty shall be charged are—

(a)£37.54 per hectolitre in the case of sparkling cider of a strength exceeding 5.5 per cent.;

(b)£36.74 per hectolitre in the case of cider of a strength exceeding 7.5 per cent. which is not sparkling cider; and

(c)£24.49 per hectolitre in any other the case.”

(2)This section shall come into force on 1st January 1998.

Hydrocarbon oil dutiesU.K.

11 Rates of hydrocarbon oil duties etc.U.K.

(1)In relation to times before the coming into force of section 7(2) and (3) of the M2Finance Act 1997 (which makes amendments specifying separate rates of duty for light oil, for ultra low sulphur diesel and for heavy oil which is not ultra low sulphur diesel), section 6(1) of the M3Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979 (“the 1979 Act”) shall have effect as follows—

(a)for “£0.4168” (rate of duty on light oil) there shall be substituted “ £0.4510 ”; and

(b)for “£0.3686” (rate of duty on heavy oil) there shall be substituted “ £0.4028 ”.

(2)In relation to times after the coming into force of section 7(2) and (3) of the Finance Act 1997, section 6(1A) of the 1979 Act (which is inserted by section 7(3) of the Finance Act 1997) shall have effect as follows—

(a)in paragraph (a) (rate of duty on light oil), for “£0.4168” there shall be substituted “ £0.4510 ”;

(b)in paragraph (b) (rate of duty on ultra low sulphur diesel), for “£0.3586” there shall be substituted “ £0.3928 ”; and

(c)in paragraph (c) (rate of duty on heavy oil that is not ultra low sulphur diesel), for “£0.3686” there shall be substituted “ £0.4028 ”.

(3)In section 11(1) of the 1979 Act (rebate on heavy oil), for “£0.0194” (fuel oil) and “£0.0250” (gas oil) there shall be substituted “ £0.0200 ” and “ £0.0258 ”, respectively.

(4)In section 14(1) of the 1979 Act (rebate on light oil for use as furnace fuel), for “£0.0194” there shall be substituted “ £0.0200 ”.

(5)This section shall be deemed to have come into force at 6 o’clock in the evening of 2nd July 1997.

Tobacco products dutyU.K.

12 Rates of tobacco products duty.U.K.

(1) For the Table of rates of duty in Schedule 1 to the M4Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979 there shall be substituted—

(2)This section shall come into force on 1st December 1997.

Vehicle excise and registrationU.K.

13 Rates of vehicle excise duty.U.K.

(1)In Schedule 1 to the M5Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (annual rates of duty) in paragraph 1(2) (the general rate), for “£145” there shall be substituted “ £150 ”.

(2)For the table in paragraph 9(1) of that Schedule (rates of duty for rigid goods vehicles) there shall be substituted the following table—

(3)For the table in paragraph 11(1) of that Schedule (rates of duty for tractive units) there shall be substituted the following table—

(4)This section applies in relation to licences taken out after 15th November 1997.

14 Payments where vehicle information transmitted electronically.U.K.

(1)In section 7 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (issue of vehicle licences), in subsection (3B) (conditions that may be imposed in place of requirement to make a declaration), after “include” there shall be inserted “ (a) ” and at the end there shall be inserted “; and

(b)a condition requiring such payments as may be specified by the Secretary of State to be made to him in respect of—

(i)steps taken by him for facilitating compliance by any person with any condition falling within paragraph (a); and

(ii)in such circumstances as may be so specified, the processing of applications for vehicle licences where particulars are transmitted in accordance with that paragraph.”

(2)Subsection (1) above applies to applications made on or after the day on which this Act is passed.

(3)In section 22 of the M6Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, after subsection (2) (regulations about registration and identification of exempt vehicles, etc.) there shall be inserted the following subsections—

“(2A)Regulations under subsection (2) may, in particular—

(a)require a person applying for a nil licence—

(i)to make such a declaration, and

(ii)to furnish such particulars,

(whether or not with respect to the vehicle for which the licence is to be taken out) as may be prescribed by the regulations, and

(b)provide for any requirement to make such a declaration not to apply in such circumstances as may be so prescribed.

(2B)The circumstances which may be prescribed by the regulations by virtue of subsection (2A)(b) include where a person applying for a nil licence agrees to comply with such conditions as may be specified in relation to him by the Secretary of State.

(2C)The conditions which may be specified by virtue of subsection (2B) include—

(a)a condition that particulars for the time being prescribed by the regulations by virtue of subsection (2A)(a) are furnished by being transmitted to the Secretary of State by such electronic means as he may specify; and

(b)a condition such as is mentioned in section 7(3B)(b) (treating the references to paragraph (a) of subsection (3B) as references to paragraph (a) of this subsection).”