If I Were Chancellor

Helping the country out of the recession and meeting our carbon reduction targets are probably the two greatest concerns troubling the Chancellor today.

The good news is he can kill two birds with one stone and there is a simple way to do it.

For several years something of an anomaly has persisted in our tax legislation.

Under the Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECA) scheme introduced by the Government in 2001 companies investing in energy-efficient technologies are entitled to significant tax breaks in the form of 100% first year capital allowances; for example if they purchase low-emission cars to be used in the business.

However although these are available on the purchase of cars with low CO2 emissions no corresponding allowances exist on the acquisition of electric vans or any other commercial vehicles designed for the transport of goods or products.

Extending the ECAs scheme to...