The tax disc has become a thing of the past.
The tax disc has become a thing of the past.
Also known as Vehicle Excise Duty, taxing your car is one of three legal obligations you must undertake as a vehicle owner, including registering your car with DVLA and holding a current MOT certificate.
Commonly referred to as road tax and mistakenly thought to be a fund towards the upkeep of roads, the money is directed towards central government funds. Up until 1937 this was the case as a portion of the money levied by the government was placed into a road fund for construction and improvement.
Previously it was visible that your car tax was in date with a disc displayed in the windscreen however in 2016 DVLA moved to a digital database.
Often a selling point with private buyers you’d see cars advertised with ‘ x number of months tax and MOT ’ the benefit of buying a car with tax already paid by the seller is now negated. The buyer now needs to register online when they take ownership, however a benefit to the seller is that they can get a refund of the tax they have paid.
There were previously 13 different bands for taxing your car depending on vehicle type and emissions earlier in 2017 the government changed the way cars are taxed and the number of tax bands went from 13 to three for vehicles registered on or after 1st April 2017. The bands are petrol and diesel cars, electric and hybrid cars and premium cars.
For vehicles registered before 1st April 2017 the tax banding depends on the rate of CO2 the vehicle emits per kilometre. Now any diesel or petrol car registered after 1st April 2017 is eligible for a £140 annual tax payment.
The payment of car tax can range from £0 to £2000 in the first year of registration and from £0 to £440 every year thereafter. The variation in the price you pay will depend of the fuel type and the list price of the car.
If your car has a list price of more than £40,000, there is an extra £310 a year tax to pay every year for five years. The list price is the amount the car is advertised at before any discount is applied, so even if you buy the car for £39,999 but it was previously listed at above £40,000 you would have to pay the premium tax rate for year two of ownership to year six of ownership.
There are a number of cars that aren’t eligible for car tax provided they were registered before 1st April 2017.
New cars with zero emissions, such as electric cars or hydrogen-powered vehicles, are now the only cars where owners do not need to pay any road tax. If you want to buy a car and not pay road tax, a used car that emits 100g/km or less, that was registered between March 2001 and 31st March 2017 would be your only option.
Drivers who are registered as disabled don’t need to pay car tax, so if you are buying your own car or buying a car through the Motability scheme then all you need to do is take along your certificate of entitlement to disability allowance, personal independence payment or armed forces independent payment to the branch.
If for whatever reason you’re not driving your car and it is off the road you will not need to pay tax on the vehicle, but you will need to let DVLA know that the vehicle is off the road by registering for a SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification.)
It’s important to take notice of the renewal letter sent by DVLA even if there is no tax to pay; this is so they can keep their records up to date. Some drivers have been clamped and fined for not renewing their tax even when it is free because they haven’t realised they still need to do this.
The most convenient way to pay for your car tax is online or you can do it over the phone or at any post office. You can check if a vehicle has up-to-date tax the DVLA website all you need is details of the registration plate to check.
