THE Construction Equipment Association (CEA) has welcomed some ‘potential positive news’ for the construction equipment sector in the Spring Budget.
After continued representations from the industry, chancellor Jeremy Hunt undertook to bring forward changes to the full expensing rules to bring leased equipment into the scheme. The CEA said that, while in an ideal world ‘leasing’ may also cover equipment bought for rental purposes, the published supporting information is ‘unclear’ regarding timing and detailed content of the legislation.
CEA director Nick Ground said, “It is too early to tell if this is going to be of help to construction equipment purchasers, but it will benefit some of our members who lease equipment for production purposes. The danger is that the promised legislation may remain as a promise as the General Election looms.
“What can be welcomed is the fuel duty freeze after the unwelcome extra costs associated with the banning of rebated red diesel for construction purposes in 2022.
“The much-trailed reduction in employees’ national insurance will be a boost for working families’ household budgets and may reduce some of the pressure on employers for wage increases. Employer’s national insurance contributions remain untouched and are still a significant tax on employment.”
