Tax runs from calendar months now?

Gti

I taxed my car on the 14th of January last year and was expecting to renew it around the same time but the DVLA site says the tax ran out on the 1st of this month!
Is this how it works now, you stand to lose an entire month if you apply for tax at the end of the month?
Since it apparently ran out on the 1st, I've only driven the car today to the shops. Will I be getting a fine for not having it taxed for a few days?

Thanks for any advice offered.

JayCartwright

It always has done.

motorguy

Gti wrote: »

I taxed my car on the 14th of January last year and was expecting to renew it around the same time but the DVLA site says the tax ran out on the 1st of this month!
Is this how it works now, you stand to lose an entire month if you apply for tax at the end of the month?
Since it apparently ran out on the 1st, I've only driven the car today to the shops. Will I be getting a fine for not having it taxed for a few days?

Thanks for any advice offered.

As Jay has already said - its always been this way.

I'd say its unlikely you'll get a fine - though you might if your car was logged as being driven without tax

Gti

I stand corrected then. It seems quite cheeky doing it this way, they should at least pro-rata the month.

I'm trying to renew now and I've come across this which isn't making sense to me:
"The 16-digit reference number on your V11 reminder form is valid from the 5th of the month in which your current vehicle tax expires until the end of the following month"
If your tax needs to be renewed from the beginning of the month, why does the code they send you to do it only valid from the 5th?
I haven't been driving long so I'm not au fait with these things. Thanks for the help so far.

force_ten

the code will be valid from the 5th december 2015 and your tax expired on the last day of december 2015

AdrianC

Gti wrote: »

I stand corrected then. It seems quite cheeky doing it this way, they should at least pro-rata the month.

Their systems are only set up for months. It's only since tax discs were removed at the end of 2014 that it even became an issue.

I'm trying to renew now and I've come across this which isn't making sense to me:
"The 16-digit reference number on your V11 reminder form is valid from the 5th of the month in which your current vehicle tax expires until the end of the following month"
If your tax needs to be renewed from the beginning of the month, why does the code they send you to do it only valid from the 5th?

Let's say your tax expires on 31st Jan. The code will be sent to you early in Jan, probably, and starts to work on 5th Jan, until end Feb. If you use it, your car will be taxed from 1st Feb.

Gti

Adrianc: the first two replies said it has always been done this way which I took to mean from before tax discs were discontinued.
I originally thought it had must have changed when the tax discs were brought in but it seems not.

There is no problem in the example you give, however in my situation where the tax runs out at the start of Jan. The quote from the DVLA says the code isn't valid until the 5th of the month my current tax expires in. As my tax expires at the start of Jan, the code isn't valid til 5 days later.

Force ten: The problem is in my situation the tax runs out on the beginning of January, and the V11 code won't be valid until the 5th of January.

AdrianC

Gti wrote: »

Adrianc: the first two replies said it has always been done this way which I took to mean from before tax discs were discontinued.
I originally thought it had must have changed when the tax discs were brought in but it seems not.

Tax discs were brought it over a hundred years ago. They were centralised and computerised in the mid '70s. The only major changes that happened a year ago were the round piece of paper ceased to exist, and tax was automatically refunded on change of keeper.

There is no problem in the example you give, however in my situation where the tax runs out at the start of Jan. The quote from the DVLA says the code isn't valid until the 5th of the month my current tax expires in. As my tax expires at the start of Jan, the code isn't valid til 5 days later.

Then your code started to work from 5th Dec for the tax expiring 31st Dec, and works until the end of Jan. The tax you buy with it will start 1st Jan, whenever you use it.

Inner_Zone

Gti wrote: »

Adrianc: the first two replies said it has always been done this way which I took to mean from before tax discs were discontinued.
I originally thought it had must have changed when the tax discs were brought in but it seems not.

There is no problem in the example you give, however in my situation where the tax runs out at the start of Jan. The quote from the DVLA says the code isn't valid until the 5th of the month my current tax expires in. As my tax expires at the start of Jan, the code isn't valid til 5 days later.

Force ten: The problem is in my situation the tax runs out on the beginning of January, and the V11 code won't be valid until the 5th of January.

The tax ran out 23.59 31st December, the code was valid from 5th December. Your car has been untaxed since 1st January 00.00. To quote Alexander "simples".

molerat

Your tax does not expire at the start of Jan. Tax has always expired on the last day of the month so in your case 31st December. The system therefore allows you, as stated above, to tax the vehicle any time from 5th Dec to 31st January with a commencing date of 1st January.

Norman_Castle

You can tax your car without the V11 reminder. Do you have the V5?.

https://www.gov.uk/car-tax-disc-without-v11-reminder

You won't be fined for being a few days late.