RIP The Tax Disc

It had a good life they can say as we literally and metaphorically tore up our paper tax discs on the 1 October 2014. The entire system is going digital and they are no longer required.

Unless your vehicle is exempt (for example made before 1.1.74 and therefore historic, wholly used for agricultural purposes, or connected with the provision of disability services), it will need to be either be taxed or declared off road (known as SORNed). Nothing else will do.

People might be surprised to learn just how much communication goes on between DVLA, the Police and motor insurers. Together with the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and the Police National Computer the new regime will enable untaxed vehicles on roads to be quickly identified.

According to a number of surveys amongst drivers there is a low level of awareness of the changes, but they are less than a month away.

So what is new?

If your existing tax disc has time to run you need do nothing apart from remove it if you wish. It isn’t required any longer and does not need to be displayed.

However, when it does expire you will need to ensure you renew it in time. This can be done on line via the DVLA web site or at Post Offices if you do not have internet access. DVLA will still send out reminders and renewal is done by using the 16 digit reference number in the reminder, or the 11 digit number in the log book.

ANPRs are very common and will recognise a vehicle that has not been taxed. A police spot check will do the same, and it’s the driver who gets penalised with a fine and back tax. It raises the need to check to make sure a vehicle is taxed before it’s driven, and this will apply to borrowed cars, as well as hired and courtesy vehicles. The new regime will mean a greater chance of being caught.

The tax transfer option will disappear. When a new car was purchased, particularly in a private transaction, it was commonplace for the buyer to take over the unexpired period of the disc. That now goes completely and a new owner cannot use it. There is an obligation on the seller to inform DVLA immediately and to reclaim any unused tax, and for the buyer to make a payment from the date of ownership. The seller has to submit a V5C, and should not rely on the buyer to do so. If you do, you run the risk of picking up responsibility for offences committed by the buyer.

Fines for using an untaxed vehicle on a road are £1,000 plus back tax. Drivers can be issued with a non endorseable fixed penalty plus back tax, and so it’s worth getting it right.

You can now pay by direct debit, monthly, twice yearly or annually and this is very helpful. Monthly or bi annual direct debits will attract a 5% surcharge which is better than the 10% for non direct debit payments. Annual direct debits of course have no surcharge, and whichever appeals it’s a good way of avoiding a problem.

According to the Department of Transport 99% of drivers tax their vehicles on time, but the changes mean there will need to be greater care than before.

One other thing to bear in mind. Just because you keep a vehicle off road (perhaps it is undergoing long term repair) you will not be completely free of potential difficulty. A little known set of regulations require all such vehicles to be insured against third party risks unless a SORN has been submitted to DVLA. The insurance industry informs DVLA when an insurance policy on a vehicle has been cancelled, and if it hasn’t been SORNed, DVLA will start its own proceedings in the Magistrates Court against the registered keeper. The fact that the vehicle is off the road and indeed may be undriveable will not provide any defence. It catches people out.