New road tax rules a PITA

[original PM]

Better still would be pay on the spot fines for foreign vehicles that break driving regulations, or the vehicle gets impounded and scrapped.

Good idea - I would also even chuck in a 1 way ticket out of the UK.

[VectraMan]

Completely agree - taxed and MOT for 10 months etc means that when buying a ropey used car you knew you could use for at least 10 months before having to go through MOT and get some potentially big bills.

And that'll still be completely true.

[original PM]

And that'll still be completely true.

well that's okay then!

[BolshieBastard]

Only found out yesterday that the new road tax rules mean you have to take off the road tax when you sell a car.
I.e. the buyer has to apply for new road tax in their name and you a refund.

How is this progress? It's just more red tape.

Drivers warned to brush up on new tax disc rules or face a £1,000 fine | This is Money

It is a PITA and those saying they dont have a problem dont see the problem.

No doubt you'll be able to cancel you VED on line eventually. So, as the seller, you cancel when the car is collected. The buyer is driving home in the car.

Is it now not taxed because you've cancelled on line? Is the buyer driving an untaxed vehicle?

If you're the buyer, how do you know the seller didnt cancel the tax at the end of the last month so they can reclaim as much tax as they can? Are you going to believe the seller when he says 'yes, its still taxed'?

If he has cancelled, you're going to have to arrange tax before you collect unless you have a trailer.

Yes, a real PITA.

[VectraMan]

It is a PITA and those saying they dont have a problem dont see the problem.

No doubt you'll be able to cancel you VED on line eventually. So, as the seller, you cancel when the car is collected. The buyer is driving home in the car.

Is it now not taxed because you've cancelled on line? Is the buyer driving an untaxed vehicle?

If you're the buyer, how do you know the seller didnt cancel the tax at the end of the last month so they can reclaim as much tax as they can? Are you going to believe the seller when he says 'yes, its still taxed'?

If he has cancelled, you're going to have to arrange tax before you collect unless you have a trailer.

Yes, a real PITA.

All true now. Yet somehow we cope. If you buy a car you have to insure it before you can drive it home, so what if you have to tax it too? In fact that's what happens if you buy a car from a dealer that doesn't have tax already.

The issue here is people still think the piece of paper is what you're paying for, which isn't true anymore (there won't be a bit of paper). The refund is only a bit of a minor annoyance if you pay 6/12 months in advance; pay monthly (as you will be able to do) and there's no problem: you just cancel the car tax when it stops being your car.

[NickFitz]

Completely agree - taxed and MOT for 10 months etc means that when buying a ropey used car you knew you could use for at least 10 months before having to go through MOT and get some potentially big bills.

If it's got an MOT you can tax it. Nothing in TFA about MOTs not being transferred.

And all that stuff about being potentially liable if you don't notify the DVLA of the change of ownership is a red herring, or at least just padding out the article: that's the same as it is now.

[ZARDOZ]

It still seems like needless red tape to me. The car is taxed for 5 months say. Previously buy the car insure it, drive away. From what I understand with these changes, the seller must inform the DVLA the car is no longer to be taxed by him/her and request a refund. The seller now has to apply for new car tax in their name. Maybe this will seamlessly happen at everyones convenience, but I doubt it.

Some scenarios:
The buyer/seller have no internet access.
The shops are shut so no manual way to do it.
The insurance database is not updated for a few days, so the buyer cannot tax the car.

You can get the insurance to insure on a specific future date, can you do that with the tax?


This all adds to the hassle. IMHO, let the car have the tax not the indvidual.

[lilelvis2000]

Care to explain that for lizards of little brain?

Yeah its a mess innit? I don't half understand it myself.

[NickFitz]

It still seems like needless red tape to me. The car is taxed for 5 months say. Previously buy the car insure it, drive away. From what I understand with these changes, the seller must inform the DVLA the car is no longer to be taxed by him/her and request a refund. The seller now has to apply for new car tax in their name. Maybe this will seamlessly happen at everyones convenience, but I doubt it.

Some scenarios:
The buyer/seller so no internet access.
The shops are shut so no manual way to do it.
The insurance database is not updated for a few days, so the buyer cannot tax the car.

You can get the insurance to insure on a specific future date, can you do that with the tax?


This all adds to the hassle. IMHO, let the car have the tax not the indvidual.

When you notify DVLA of the change of ownership (which has always been a legal requirement) they will automatically give you the refund, so you don't need to do any more than you already do.

When buying, you can get the tax online, at the Post Office, or by phone. The phone and online options are (or will be) available 24/7. If the new owner can't manage to sort out the tax by one of those methods, they're not going to be able to sort out insurance either, so they shouldn't be on the road in the first place.

Source: Vehicle tax changes at www.gov.uk.

[NickFitz]

The insurance database is not updated for a few days, so the buyer cannot tax the car.

In the interests of science, and because I needed to do it anyway, I just used the Beta version of the new vehicle tax renewal service at https://www.taxdisc.service.gov.uk/ for one of my cars. The service checks that the vehicle has a valid MOT, but doesn't check for valid insurance. I seem to remember it used to, but it appears that requirement has been removed. So it looks like they actually thought about scenarios such as the one you describe.