The regulations for vehicle excise duty (a.k.a road tax) are changing on 1st October 2014 and from then on you won’t be given the familiar paper disc to display in your car. There’ll be no more peeking in windscreens by eagle-eyed policemen, instead it’ll all be enforced by automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and the DVLA’s computers.
So when I heard mention of a video from the DVLA entitled ‘Goodbye To The Tax Disc’ I thought it was going to be an amusing tribute to the Circle Of Tax, or at least something that might go into a bit of detail on its history.
Alas, no. Instead we’re given a shoddy video that is neither informative nor entertaining. It looks and sounds like it was recorded on someone’s smartphone, and features a young chap who appears to have finally come to terms with a peculiar fetish.
You’d have thought the DVLA could have put in a bit more effort to mark the end of the disc’s 93 year service. Especiall when you consider they’re going to be saving bundles of cash by not having to print and deliver over 40 million pieces of paper each year.
On a serious note, the change in regulations might mean that you don’t have to display a disc but it also means you can’t sell your car with whatever tax is remaining. Instead you have to get in touch with the DVLA to tell them you’ve sold it (by sending off the V5C) and then request a refund on the leftover fee. The new owner has to go and sort out their own tax.
Don’t forget that if you forget to tell the DVLA you’ve sold your car you risk a fine of £1,000, plus the chance to take on any speeding or parking offences incurred by the new owner. Yes, forget to send off that V5C and you could take on the new owner’s points and fines.
