Brussels, 10/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 10 July, the European Commission announced that it has decided to refer the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice of the European Union for not properly applying the rules on fiscal marking on fuel, despite being sent a warning letter in May 2013.
Under EU rules, fuel that can benefit from a reduced tax rate has to be marked by coloured dye. Fishing vessels, for example, are allowed to benefit from a lower taxed fuel but private leisure boats must use fuel subject to a standard rate.
Currently, UK law does not require fuel distributors to have two separate fuel tanks to distinguish between the lower tax marked fuel and the fuel subject to the standard rate. As a result private leisure boat owners are often in a situation where they can only purchase marked fuel.
Consequently, private leisure boats may not pay the right amount of tax, as they purchase fuel normally intended for fishing vessels. Not only does this go against EU excise rules, but it also puts private boats at risk of heavy penalties if they are checked by local authorities when they travel to another member state. (EL)