End of paper tax disc next week

See our previous NEWS items on the end of paper tax discs:

End of paper tax discs in October 2014
Our last NEWS based on an update from the FBHVC on 20th August 2014. 140820 & updated 140830 More

DVLA news - abolition of the tax disc and paying vehicle tax by direct debit
Our NEWS item with an update on the end of tax discs, how to check the road tax status of your vehicle, complications when selling or buying a car and information on how you can pay VED by direct debit. 140313 More

Buying and MG - don't negotiate to buy any remaining road tax
NEWS item on claiming a refund of the residue of complete months of a road tax disc or if your car is classed as Historic, returning the NIL value tax disc. 140312 More

DVLA application for a tax disc refund
Download a Form V14. More

See our earlier Budget reports
End of tax discs announcement. 131205 More

How do I apply for a tax class change from PLG to Historic for an eligible classic car?
Remember cars built in 1973 are eligible from 1st April 2014 and, as the Chancellor made it a rolling 40 year concession in his Budget in March 2014, cars built in 1974 will be eligible from 1st April 2015.
See our briefing note and flowchart.

Getting a relica paper tax disc. More

Posted: 140928
End of paper tax discs next week
From Wednesday 1st October next week vehicles registered in the UK will no longer be required to display a paper tax disc (vehicle excise duty licence) on their vehicle. Even if you have a tax disc that expires after this date, it can be removed and destroyed if you wish. Before you do that our note below will be worth reading.

Although the paper tax disc is no more the liability to apply for vehicle excise duty or to SORN a UK registered car will of course remain! For owners of cars classed as Historic they will also have to apply for a NIL value VED or SORN the car although it is difficult to see why an owner would make a SORN when they can obtain a NIL value VED. For eligible cars you have to apply for a tax class change from PLG to Historic either direct to DVLA or through a Post Office branch that knows how to process such cases. Members' feedback indicates a variable experience when visiting Post Office branches ranging from a smooth process to total bafflement!

The DVLA and UK Police will enforce the payment of VED (and the annual application and issue of a NIL value VED) soley by means of an electronic database and automatic
numberplate recognition cameras on patrol cars and at static roadside locations. That system is now very effective and links to the askMID insurance database and to the MOT test database too. So the curse of uninsured cars on UK roads is being tackled and just because a paper tax disc is no longer required to be on display on the windscreen does not mean cheats can get away with it. There is a high probability of their being spotted and hunted down.

Complications when selling and buying a car in the UK
Without a paper tax disc to be handed over as part of the sale of a car, the new system introduced by DVLA means all cars will have to be retaxed when they are sold. The seller is then able to apply to the DVLA for a refund of the remaining VED for the unexpired months The buyer has to tax the car before they drive it away from the point of sale! The buyer is expected to apply for a new VED to either the DVLA by telephone (0300 123 4321), online (gov.uk/tax-disc) or by post OR apply at a local Post Office with the necessary paperwork and payment. There is still some uncertainty over this process because until the DVLA receives the sections of the V5C from the seller reporting the sale and the new registered keeper the DVLA vehicle database will not have been updated. So when the seller tries to tax the car his or her name will not be on the DVLA vehicle database as the registered keeper. So in all probability a buyer will simply drive the car away from the point of sale (having obtained the necessary motor insurance cover of course) and then once home begin the process of taxing the car. Whether a condition of your insurance cover will require the car to be correctly taxed is another issue we are investigating as an additional concern. Frankly this situation is a disgraceful muddle and hopefully it will be clarified before too long.

Before you tear up your tax disc!
Some tax discs are already collectors' items, particularly from prewar years, but with paper tax discs coming to an end in the UK the values of some more recent tax discs are expected to rise - not least tax discs ending in September or October 2014. The reason is the DVLA has run out of the paper upon which tax discs are printed so it will now be producing the tax discs from ordinary paper without perforations around the circular perimeter of the disc. If you have one then hang on to it as it could be worth a tidy sum to tax disc collectors in future years!
V8 Register - MG Car Club - the leading group for MG V8 enthusiasts at www.v8register.net