No more paper tax discs but .....

[MIG Wielder]

..... I've just been reading a news item where something else has bee mentioned.
As of Oct 1st if you buy a 2nd hand car then at the point of sale the " tax disc " status ceases to be valid. !!! The new owner has to get a new tax disc before they can drive it home ! And there is no period of grace . So how is this going to work in practice ? Buying a car on a Sunday is going to be difficult.
I can only imagine there will be a lot of new business for transporters or the seller will have to drive the car to its new home.
It also means the DVLA gets a double dose of car-tax in the month a car is sold.
Tony.

[geeksteve]

I imagine it can be done online, even on a Sunday. Probably a few people who wont cope with that though.

Steve

[tony g]

I wonder if they charge pro rata so you only pay for the days you use it? Sounds mad but you never know lol. If not people will only buy/sell at the end of the month which is going to hurt business sellers

Tony

[RobSun]

No it was thought that this would be the case but I checked yesterday and as now first day of the month is when your new tax starts and ends on the last day of the month.

[Carledo]

As far as I'm aware, you can't tax a car online unless its registered in your name - which has to be done by post - with paper and stamps! So no Sunday sales, in fact no quick sales at all, its gonna take a week (at least) to unwind it all and still cost 2 months tax for the month of sale unless.........
I have seen mentioned somewhere (possibly the TSSC Courier magazine) that it WILL be possible to transfer the tax, but it must be notified and confirmed by DVLA...... Anyone else heard this?
i reckon the thing to do is to sell the car whenever but do the paperwork on the 30th of the month, that gives the buyer time to get his insurance docs through so he can tax at the PO on the 1st and you can notify DVLA and post the disc back (assuming you have one) on the 30th and no-one loses money, well, except the government!
But this is, without doubt, one of the MOST ill conceived plans I have ever come across, In the past a dealer selling a car would tax it for the customer on his traders insurance, this will no longer be possible and anyone buying a car from a dealer will have to wait for the paperwork to go the circuit before he can tax and collect his car! Its just BS and the only beneficiary is the Govt who will earn a few extra undeserved millions from duplicated months road tax!
I can see it all getting changed before too long when the scheme breaks down and the DVLA computer has heart failure

Steve

[covcourier]

There will be no tax disc anymore only an electronic record of VED.

So... If I sell a car on a Sunday, the buyer can drive away as although the VED ceases once vehicle changes hands, it will take a few days for DVLA to receive paperwork notifying the change of keeper. As long as buyer proves to me that they have insurance then off they go.

DVLA once they receive paperwork refund me any owed months if paid up front (as opposed to the new ongoing monthly direct debit option) and the new owner will be liable from the 1st of the month in which the car was purchased.

Thats my take on it but everyone will interpret it differently no doubt.

Need to look in to how it affects me when I buy a car to sell on. Would usually stick 6 months on to help sell easier but not sure if I will need to pay a month VED for a car that I may turn round in a few days plus the associated paperwork.

[TrustNo1]

As far as I'm aware, you can't tax a car online unless its registered in your name - which has to be done by post - with paper and stamps! So no Sunday sales, in fact no quick sales at all, its gonna take a week (at least) to unwind it all and still cost 2 months tax for the month of sale unless.........
I have seen mentioned somewhere (possibly the TSSC Courier magazine) that it WILL be possible to transfer the tax, but it must be notified and confirmed by DVLA...... Anyone else heard this?

Steve

As from 1st Oct you don't need to be the registered owner to tax a car because there will be no paper disc which used to be send to the address on the V5 and no you can not transfer tax the seller has to cancel and the new buyer retaxes it online, this can be done any day of the week and anytime of day.
As for there being no grace period that is a load of bollocks to scare people, it take a few days for the online tax to register on the database and because you pay from the beginning of the month you are not committing any offences by waiting a few days unless of course you are waiting until the next month to tax it, as for police ANPR no police force will take action for tax being expired a few days or even a couple of weeks.

[mbellinger]

What J said above. And yes, you can do it on a Sunday (just done so this weekend). There is a phone App coming soon too....

[sprint95m]

Is this a case of taking a simple system and making it stupidly and unnecessarily complicated.....?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29430979







Ian.

[tinweevil]

No, just another example of public sector incompetence.

As for is the sytem over complex, how could a paperless system be more simple? The seller gets an automatic refund, the buyer as has been covered above can tax online 24/7 or in a post office with the tear off portion of the registraion doc. Yes the DVLA gets double tax for a sale month, whoopdedoo. Under the old scheme you could only get a refund for whole unused months so no change. When taxing it always had to be from the start of the month so no change. There will be more instances of both is all.

Other than abolishing VED all together and putting a penny or two on fuel tax what could be simpler than this?

[sprint95m]

It is the Direct Debit aspect I am thinking of Julian.
Not only are you dealing with the DVLA but also a bank . Despite what the experts on the BBC may claim, changing or transferring DDs is fraught.


How does this affect Historic vehicles? When the current tax disc expires on my car will I still have to go to the PO to renew as before
or will this be done automatically from now on?



It was the insurance companies who stopped the idea (about 30 years ago) to put VED and third party insurance cover onto fuel.
A pity. Pay as you go is surely the fairest system.




thanks,


Ian.

[tinweevil]

Well yes I see your point on banks but it is optional.

[mbellinger]

I renewed my historic vehicle online last week using only the reminder form - I do not use direct debit and paid nothing of course. It took less than five minutes and the confirmation email you receive is different now and is a much more formal proof of purchase than previously.

[xvivalve]

Last evening and all of today, the system was offline 'due to unexpected demand'. I eventually taxed the Alfa at lunchtime, it took until then to get through to the automated 'phone system withoout being told they were 'experiencing an unexpected heavy number of calls'!! Its the first of the month FFS, when else do they expect demand to be heavy???

...and before you say I could have renewed the tax earlier, its lucky its getting an extra month; the MoT expires early Nov, the exhaust is blowing, the clutch is on its last legs, the cambelts need replacement, it has an electrical fault and a neighbour has vandalised the bodywork. Its worth about 1/4 of the cost of work required so is at end of life I'm afraid...I just didn't manage to do the towing I need to do during September!!

[Carledo]

That bit I posted about being able to transfer tax WAS from the TSSC courier mag and was apparently based on info from FBHVC.....And is completely wrong!!!!The latest Courier which arrived today has recanted it!


On direct debit, I have 5 or 6 cars on the road at any one time, all of which are taxed (currently) in different months. I imagine that each car will have a separate DD once the scheme gets rolling and my internet banking lets me cancel a DD at the drop of a hat. I just have to make sure I cancel the correct one when I sell a car! If they all get lumped together in 1 DD its gonna be a problem for me and them!

Steve