21.10.2025 | Logistics
Tax hikes could hit ports and hauliers hard, warns Logistics UKAs the Treasury eyes new revenue streams, the logistics body calls for restraint to protect the businesses keeping the East of England’s trade flowing.
With the Autumn Budget fast approaching, business group Logistics UK has issued a clear warning to the Treasury: any further tax increases on the logistics sector risk fuelling inflation and stifling economic growth.
Representing one of the UK’s largest industries – employing 2.7 million people, or 8% of the national workforce – Logistics UK’s submission highlights how rising costs across transport and storage directly impact every household and business. Whether through fuel duty, employer National Insurance contributions, or business rates, higher costs in logistics quickly translate to higher prices on the shelves.
Kevin Green, Acting Chief Executive of Logistics UK, cautioned that a fuel duty rise would have the opposite effect of the Chancellor’s stated goal to curb inflation.
“Fuel accounts for around a third of the cost of operating a 44-tonne HGV,” he said. “Increasing duty would not only raise inflation but damage the competitiveness of a sector already contributing more than £5 billion a year in fuel tax.”
The group also called for reforms to business rates that protect investment in warehouses, distribution hubs and logistics parks. Current proposals for a higher rate multiplier on large properties could, it warns, add millions in costs – costs that would inevitably ripple down the supply chain.
As Kevin Green added, “Nothing moves without logistics. Our sector keeps hospitals, schools, factories, construction sites, and shops running. The Autumn Budget must recognise its central role in the UK economy.”
For businesses operating across the East of England’s ports and logistics corridors, that message couldn’t be clearer.
