Firms face closure after tax break is ended for fuel made from waste cooking oil

Businesses which make a diesel-type fuel from waste vegetable oil face closure after the rules governing biofuels were tightened, ending a tax break for some manufacturers.

One operation in Devon, Plymouth Bio-Fuels, said that as well as being told it was no longer eligible for the tax break, it had been ordered to pay
Bio-power, a not-for-profit group which represents several hundred producers of biofuel in the UK, accused the government of “hypocrisy” and is considering taking legal action.

It said that even as the government was announcing proposals to force oil companies to include biofuel in petrol and diesel last week, officers from Revenue and Customs were telling some producers they would be losing the tax break. John Nicholson, secretary of Bio-power, said: “It’s crazy that the government is moving the goalposts. We do not believe what they are doing has any basis in law at all.”

The Guardian