How do we do this please??

mrsjaw

Please can I have your input?
We are exchanging vehicles with someone within the next couple of weeks. How do we sort out cancelling the tax on the car that belongs to us at the moment and then taxing the one that will be 'new' to us? The way its looking at the moment the other party and us will both lose out on a on months tax - if we tax before the end of October we have to pay back to the start of the month and in effect will lose a months tax and if we don't surrender the current tax we have before the start of November we will lose another month! Am I correct in thing that's 2 months tax to HMRC for nothing??
Maybe I'm missing something but its giving me a headache at the moment.

daveyjp

As we have monthly rebates that's how the system is, but it always has been like that. The difference now is you can't transfer tax with a used car, something I found dealers often didn't want anyway.

mrsjaw

Thanks for that - it just doesn't seem fair though. I wouldn't let Tesc* charge me for stuff I hadn't bought!

rich13348

I assume you are doing a private trade of vehicles from person to person and not trading them in to a trader. A trader (normally a company) do not pay tax on a vehicle if it's just on the forecourt and driven on trade plates.

If you want to avoid losing out on any money you will need to cancel your tax on your car on 31 October and so will the other party you will both get refunds of your tax on remaining months then exchange cars on 1 November and tax them online or over the phone before driving the vehicles. That way no one loses any money and you don't pay a whole months tax on a partial month.

If you cancel tax on the old car and tax the new car mid month you will always lose money both ends as you have to tax both cars for the full month regardless.

AdrianC

mrsjaw wrote: »

Thanks for that - it just doesn't seem fair though. I wouldn't let Tesc* charge me for stuff I hadn't bought!

But you are being charged for stuff you've bought.

You have used your car on the road this month. You pay tax for it for this month.
You are buying a car to use on the road this month. You pay tax for it for this month.

Look, this all got very boring last year when it actually changed. How much is one month's tax for the damn car, anyway? How much are your insurers charging you for policy amendment fees?

mrsjaw

Thanks rich13348 for your good advice. We are doing a private trade and I think we'll end up doing as you suggest.


Sorry AdrianC I don't really agree with you - the car we own now is taxed for October and if I cancelled it tomorrow I would lose the rest of the month but if I taxed my 'new' car tomorrow I would have to pay from the start of October again - that's being charged twice for the same thing. The same applies to the person we are exchanging with too. You might not mind being charged twice for the same thing but it really annoys me. I didn't know about these changes last year - I just heard about them yesterday.

Crabman

rich13348 wrote: »

I assume you are doing a private trade of vehicles from person to person and not trading them in to a trader. A trader (normally a company) do not pay tax on a vehicle if it's just on the forecourt and driven on trade plates.

If you want to avoid losing out on any money you will need to cancel your tax on your car on 31 October and so will the other party you will both get refunds of your tax on remaining months then exchange cars on 1 November and tax them online or over the phone before driving the vehicles. That way no one loses any money and you don't pay a whole months tax on a partial month.

If you cancel tax on the old car and tax the new car mid month you will always lose money both ends as you have to tax both cars for the full month regardless.

Good advice but be careful to select the option when paying to say you're the new owner, otherwise when DVLA receives the change of keeper form via post they'll cancel the tax.

Save the receipt from the tax payment as the government's incredibly expensive computer system takes several days to update. If you are stopped by police because they perceive the vehicle as being untaxed, being able to show a gov.uk printout for the VED payment will be helpful.

You can check the car's current tax/MOT status on the following site:

https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

Jansenrovers

rich13348 wrote: »

I assume you are doing a private trade of vehicles from person to person and not trading them in to a trader. A trader (normally a company) do not pay tax on a vehicle if it's just on the forecourt and driven on trade plates.

If you want to avoid losing out on any money you will need to cancel your tax on your car on 31 October and so will the other party you will both get refunds of your tax on remaining months then exchange cars on 1 November and tax them online or over the phone before driving the vehicles. That way no one loses any money and you don't pay a whole months tax on a partial month.

If you cancel tax on the old car and tax the new car mid month you will always lose money both ends as you have to tax both cars for the full month regardless.

The DVLA actually need to receive the form before the end of the month to get the next months tax back. I got rid of my car on 30th June and sent the forms to the DVLA the same day. After 6 weeks I rang them to ask why I hadn't received July's tax refund and they claimed because they received my forms on the 2nd July, that's the day they cancel it from, so I wasn't entitled to that months tax back. I appealed it but didn't help.

rich13348

Jansenrovers wrote: »

The DVLA actually need to receive the form before the end of the month to get the next months tax back. I got rid of my car on 30th June and sent the forms to the DVLA the same day. After 6 weeks I rang them to ask why I hadn't received July's tax refund and they claimed because they received my forms on the 2nd July, that's the day they cancel it from, so I wasn't entitled to that months tax back. I appealed it but didn't help.

There was some discussion regarding this in another post and some said they did it from the postmark date on the letter. If that's the case so long as it's posted 29 or early in 30 then it might be ok. This might be the case or it might not so don't take it for granted.

AdrianC

mrsjaw wrote: »

Sorry AdrianC I don't really agree with you

I think you mean you don't really agree with the law. I'm only the messenger.

the car we own now is taxed for October and if I cancelled it tomorrow I would lose the rest of the month but if I taxed my 'new' car tomorrow I would have to pay from the start of October again - that's being charged twice for the same thing.

That logic says that I've got one car taxed, why can't I drive my other (untaxed) car - after all, I've already paid for a car to be taxed for this month.

So - how much is one month's tax for this car, anyway? And how much is your insurer going to charge you to amend the policy?

photome

AdrianC wrote: »

I think you mean you don't really agree with the law. I'm only the messenger.



That logic says that I've got one car taxed, why can't I drive my other (untaxed) car - after all, I've already paid for a car to be taxed for this month.

So - how much is one month's tax for this car, anyway? And how much is your insurer going to charge you to amend the policy?

2 good questions.

I agree with you OP but as Adrian asks would be good to know what figures we are talking about