Car Tax

[Mike]

Hi all

Is there now an automatic fine if you do not renew your car tax on time.....ie to the exact day ?

Thanks

Mike

Well, they can now assume your car is in illegal use from the very day of renewal if you have neither taxed it, nor made a Statutory Off Road Notification (a.k.a. 'decalring SORN', a typically unnecessary piece of bureaucratic ********). Whether they pursue it from that day is another matter. My gut feeling is that they would still wait a few days because most tax discs are still issued by hand at post offices, so it must take a while for the evidence of renewal to turn up in the systems.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Chris T

Well, they can now assume your car is in illegal use from the very day of renewal if you have neither taxed it, nor made a Statutory Off Road Notification (a.k.a. 'decalring SORN', a typically unnecessary piece of bureaucratic ********). Whether they pursue it from that day is another matter. My gut feeling is that they would still wait a few days because most tax discs are still issued by hand at post offices, so it must take a while for the evidence of renewal to turn up in the systems.

I just read somewhere it was a month before they issued a fine but needed to check. Tried phoning the helpline which was worst then N*L

[bob_builder]

You will not save any money by waiting because they will back-date your tax disc to when it was due to be renewed (if this was what you were thinking).

[Mike]

Originally Posted by bob_builder

You will not save any money by waiting because they will back-date your tax disc to when it was due to be renewed (if this was what you were thinking).

It not that...........it's my MOT runs out 30 March 2005 and some repairs have been delayed.....so no MOT no Tax

[orangebird]

Originally Posted by Mike

It not that...........it's my MOT runs out 30 March 2005 and some repairs have been delayed.....so no MOT no Tax

If you think it's going to delay it for maore than maybe a week, I'd fill out a SORN.

[ian@huth]

Many years ago I went to my local post office to renew my car tax and at that time you had to produce the old tax disc when renewing at the post office. When I went back to the car there was a penalty notice fixed to my windscreen for not displaying a current valid tax disc. I wrote to the address on the penalty notice describing the fact that the tax disc was not there as it had to be produced at the post office for renewal. The reply that I got stated that on this occasion they would let me off the fine but if it happened again in the future I would be fined. It also stated that a vehicle must not be on the road without a current valid tax disc no matter what the reason. Apparantly all those tax applied for notices put in cars and the theory that you have 14 days in which to retax the car are no defence and you can be fined the moment the clock ticks past midnight on the day of expiry of the tax disc if the car is on a public road.

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by ian@huth

Apparantly all those tax applied for notices put in cars and the theory that you have 14 days in which to retax the car are no defence and you can be fined the moment the clock ticks past midnight on the day of expiry of the tax disc if the car is on a public road.

You can be fined even if the car is not on a public road if you have not SORNed is. But like others have said, I have heard they wait a month before issuing a fine.
__________________

Originally Posted by Mike

It not that...........it's my MOT runs out 30 March 2005 and some repairs have been delayed.....so no MOT no Tax

In that case, it is probably worth buying 6 months tax this time and staggering your tax and MOT by half a year. That way whenever, your tax comes up for renewal in the future you will already hold a valid MOT and insurance certificate.

[Aragorn]

Given that you MOT runs out today, I hope you're not planning to drive it anywhere but garage for repairs and then to post office. An expired tax disc may not get you a fine with the first month, but it may make you more of a target for the police to stop - then the problems start! I got stopped once just because part of the old disk was still stuck to the windscreen (as well as the new disk)!

[zoombini]

I would hope that it is not being driven to the post office after the garage as that it not legal.

It may only be driven to the MOT centre for a prebooked MOT, however it MUST still be taxed.

If it is not taxed then it must be transported there & back.

Originally Posted by Mike

Hi all

Is there now an automatic fine if you do not renew your car tax on time.....ie to the exact day ?

Check out http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/unlicensed.htm

Where it states:

The law allows 14 days from the date the licence was due in which to relicense.

All the info from DVLA is here http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/vehlicnc.htm

Which says (among other things):

If there has been a break in licensing, or if you have bought a vehicle without a licence, you cannot submit your application more than 2 days before the new licence is due to start. Licences cannot be backdated beyond the first day of the month in which you apply. Any arrears of duty must be paid direct to a DVLA Local Office.

The fact that they state that a licence can be 'backdated' up to a month tends to imply (and my experience agrees with this) that as long as the tax is renewed (or SORN declared) during the first month after expiry, then there is no problem, so long as the car has then not been used or parked on a public highway. (Driving to/from repair garage and/or MOT station is permitted, but it's always a good idea to notify insurers in this case, otherwise they might try wriggle out of a claim.)

I went through all this last summer when I spent a couple of weeks fixing/welding etc. on the car and getting MOT sorted before I could re-tax.
I paid from the point of expiry, so DVLA was happy. (I also have a car on the drive which is on SORN - but that one is simple - just post off the reminder when it arrives. lol)

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by zoombini

I would hope that it is not being driven to the post office after the garage as that it not legal.

It may only be driven to the MOT centre for a prebooked MOT, however it MUST still be taxed.

If it is not taxed then it must be transported there & back.

The car is exempt from having a valid tax disc if it is being driven to a pre booked MOT test. Exempt from car tax are vehicles solely used when:

* going to a test centre for an MOT if pre-booked
* undergoing an MOT test
* having failed an MOT test, the vehicle is taken to a pre-booked appointment at a garage to have the identified faults rectified.

Originally Posted by zoombini

I would hope that it is not being driven to the post office after the garage as that it not legal.

It may only be driven to the MOT centre for a prebooked MOT, however it MUST still be taxed.

If it is not taxed then it must be transported there & back.

According to http://www.direct.gov.uk/Topics/Moto...038&chk=vFm1fU

Using a vehicle on a public road without displaying a tax disc


If a vehicle is used or kept on a public road it must display a valid tax disc. However, there is one exception. You can drive an untaxed vehicle on a public road to and from a pre-arranged:

• MOT testing station
• VIC testing station
• an approved vehicle weight testing station which covers design weight
• certificate or plated revenue weight
• reduced pollution test

Which works for me as I tend to do my own repairs, since almost every garage is a cowboy outfit that I would rather not trust my car (and/or life) to.


BTW - if you see an untaxed car being used, you can easily report it:

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/public/unlic_...ort_online.htm

[Escapee]

I had problems taxing my car because of the pre-historic system in this country where we have to produce an insurance document to get the tax disc.

Also the DVLA website declared that I had to fill in a form (V11 I think) the post office then said this information on the DVLA website was out of date. I then had another problem because the post office only had 6 month discs and no 12 month ones.

You would think it being the 21st century, the post office would be able to check if you have current insurance cover. I guess they prefer to rely on an insurance document that could of been cancelled 11 months ago.

It's about time they dragged the system into the 21st century, as all this buraucracy does is make things difficult for people who want to tax a vehicle. The ones who dont tax their vehicles dont give a s**t, because they usually dont have insurance anyway.

Labour, the government who hates the motorist.

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by Escapee

You would think it being the 21st century, the post office would be able to check if you have current insurance cover. I guess they prefer to rely on an insurance document that could of been cancelled 11 months ago.

Indeed, now that we have a national insurance database and a MOT database you should be able to buy your tax online without needing to go to a post office or, even better, scrap car tax altogether!