Car Tax

When someone owns a car, can, lorry or motorbike, they will always need to have a valid tax disc, MOT and insurance against it. Since 1 January 2004, a new tax law has been introduced. This new car tax (vehicle licensing) law means that the registered owner of a vehicle will be responsible for taxing their vehicle or informing DVLA if it is kept off-road by completing a Statutory Off Road Notification (also known as SORN).

To avoid any liability for taxing the vehicle, the keeper must tell DVLA when the vehicle is parked off the road, or if it has been sold, scrapped, transferred or exported. After DVLA has been told about the sale/transfer or they have been informed that the vehicle is off-road, they will send an acknowledgement letter, which must be kept as a form of proof that your vehicle record has been changed.

If an individual does not re-license their vehicle or declare a SORN, these new rules will mean that the owner will obtain an automatic penalty charge of £80 (this will be decreased to £40 if it is paid within 28 days). For those individuals who choose to ignore this penalty, they may also receive a CCJ against them, they may be stopped by the police, and/or they could have their vehicles clamped. These offenders may also be faced with a prosecution and may be fined a minimum fee of £1000.

Each month the DVLA will carry out a computer check which will help them to identify vehicles that do not have a valid tax disc. Although these new rules will mean that it is no longer needed for the vehicle to be actually seen on a public road prior to a penalty fine being issued, the current on-road enforcement will still continue.

The new tax rules have been introduced to stop those people who do not buy tax for their vehicles. Because drivers will need a valid MOT and an insurance certificate in order to buy a tax disc, these measures will actually decrease the number of unroadworthy and uninsured vehicles that are being driven. The new law will also ensure that the owners notify the DVLA of any changes, which will therefore, improve the records accuracy and will make it a lot easier for the police to find the owners of any abandoned vehicles, as well as used in any criminal activities. This will not just benefit the law-abiding motorists but will benefit the whole community.

In order for someone to avoid obtaining a penalty they must make sure that they do the following:

Ensure their tax disc is kept up to date – Someone is able to keep their tax disc up to date simply by completing the relevant section of a renewal reminder form (V11) and handing it in at a licence-issuing Post Office.

Ensure they keep their record up to date – A person should inform DVLA if they sell, transfer, scrap or export their vehicle, otherwise they will still be liable for taxing it even if they have disposed of it.

Make a S.O.R.N - If a car owner does not intend to use or park their vehicle on the public road, they can make a Statutory Off Road Notification. This will also apply if a person has recently bought a vehicle and the last owner had declared a SORN against it and the new owner also wants to park the vehicle off road without using it. A S.O.R.N declaration is legitimate for 12 months (if the vehicle is kept off-road) - failure to renew the S.O.R.N declaration will also incur a penalty charge.

If the owner of the vehicle is disabled they may not have to get vehicle tax. This could be if they have certain disability benefits or they have an invalid carriage.

A person is able to claim for tax exemption if they are obtaining benefits such as DLA (a higher rate mobility component for the Disability Living Allowance) or (WPMS) War Pensioners Mobility Supplement. They are able to nominate another person to drive for them. However the car must be registered to the owner or their nominee; only be used for the owners benefit (for instance shopping or picking up prescriptions) and it must be insured for this nominee and any other drivers that drive the vehicle for the owners purposes.

Before the owner is able to obtain a free tax disc, they will need to ask the Agency that approved the benefit for an exemption certificate.