A taxi driver has warned the new Taxi Tax will hit customers "like a train" (stock) (Image: Getty)
A taxi driver has warned a new tax on private hire cars could be the “nail in the coffin” for drivers and customers.
Saf Khan, 43, is a taxi driver who works in and around Telford, Shropshire. He told Express.co.uk about the devastation that could be caused if the new 20 percent levy comes in.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been urged to intervene after a High Court case last year ruled that taxi companies, not taxi drivers, were liable for VAT. The new tax could lead to every fare rising by 20 percent if it is not addressed in the next budget.
Mr Khan is one of the thousands of drivers in the UK who could be impacted by the new tax which may see both a drop in customers and the number of taxi drivers.
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He said that the new tax was a “no-win situation from every angle” both for him and customers for whom the new tax will hit them “like a train”.
READ MORE Meet the 'vulnerable' Brits whose livelihoods are in Jeremy Hunt's hands [LATEST]
Taxi driver Saf Khan has criticised the new tax (Image: Supplied)
Mr Khan explained: “As a driver, it’s going to be very detrimental because as we know people are struggling as it is already. To whack another 20 percent on the fares…is going to hit the customers like a train.”
He added that it will also hit drivers because the increased prices could mean the number of customers will drop. He said: “From a driver's point of view, I think the number of customers is going to go down and possibly the number of drivers will go down as well.
“Drivers are struggling as it is. If the fares are going to go up it's going to be deterring customers from booking taxis, it’s going to increase our hours further, just to make ends meet.”
While the new 20 percent tax might not be a problem for the wealthiest, for people in some communities in Shropshire, Mr Khan says it will hit them and vulnerable customers even harder.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is being asked to step in to stop the tax in the next budget (Image: Getty)
Mr Khan said: “For the well-off a 20 percent increase on the fares probably doesn’t seem a lot, but a lot of the customers we pick up. I live in Shropshire, there’s a lot of rural areas around Shropshire in very remote areas.
“They rely on taxis, they’re regular taxi users some of them use us two or three times a day. A lot of vulnerable users rely on us as well [such as] wheelchair users.
“These people are not well off. We don’t want to punish customers, they’re longstanding [customers]. These guys basically pay our wages.
“Essentially they don’t know what’s going on in the background with all this 20 percent, it’s not really been that well publicised.”
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He added that the transport situation in some areas was so bad that cabs were now picking up bus passengers let down by local services, he explained: “We actually pick people up from bus stops who’ve been let down by the real buses because their services don’t run as efficiently so that happens a lot.
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“This 20 percent could be the nail in the coffin. For them to introduce this tax at this moment could spell the end. It will deter a lot of taxi drivers away, it will deter customers away.”
On what his message to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt would be, Mr Khan said: “We are the heart of the community, we are a very important part, especially in the areas like Telford where the public transport is not good at all.
"Our bills already sky high, my message to the Chancellor would be to think this through from a driver’s perspective as well as a passenger’s perspective.”
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