Contractors lobby over landfill levy

An industry campaign to soften the blow of the new landfill tax - announced in last November's budget - is gathering momentum.

There are fears that the tax - brought in to hit waste dumping - will mean massive costs for contractors. The contractors hope that as they generally handle inert waste they might be able to convince the Chancellor to charge them a lower levy while hitting harder the disposers of toxic waste.

This week Liz Bridge, tax director of the Building Employers Confederation, met construction minister Robert Jones to discuss the problem. Jones promised to support the industry in forthcoming discussions.

Bridge said: 'All hell will be let loose when the Government publishes its consultative document on landfill tax. It will be a big issue for the construction industry. This will be a wholly new tax. Nobody knows its shape: it could be hard to police.'

Bridge is concerned that only responsible contractors will pay the tax while others will be able to dodge it.