£0 vehicle tax - fined, clamped plus...

unholyangel

jac1970stone wrote: »

Thank you all. The vehicle checks were all done - his son had gone through all the process and got to the £0 to pay page and thought that was it. Unfortunately there was one final stage where you have to effectively put in details for payment to pay nothing, which he didn’t realise. My partner checked with him that he was doing it and both thought it was complete. There seems to be a flaw in the process on the website which catches people out.

His insurance know and his driving licence details have also been updated, so everything else is in order. Just again seems crazy that he is being fined for paying nothing... yes do feel it is an easy target for extra money.

I believe thats what IT people would refer to as PICNIC.

When I renewed mine the end of last year, it was exactly the same as the picture below (notice the top parts numbered 1-6 and also the noticeable green "continue" button below), imo it would be extremely hard to miss all of that.

custardy

I find it hard to believe his son simply didnt realise the tax process wasnt complete in this day and age.
more likely didnt bother.

mbwoy84

Agreed. It!!!8217;s a very simple and straightforward process. You still need to ensure your cars is taxed or SORN regardless of whether there is a fee to pay or not.

I!!!8217;ve owned cars in the !!!8220;historic vehicle!!!8221; class for many years, which is free, but you still have to ensure they are taxed. You used to have to display a disc. Think of it as the same thing now, just without the physical disc.

It!!!8217;s impossible to !!!8220;miss!!!8221; something on the website whilst taxing a car. He clearly didn!!!8217;t bother doing it.

EdGasketTheSecond

jac1970stone wrote: »

His insurance know and his driving licence details have also been updated, so everything else is in order. Just again seems crazy that he is being fined for paying nothing... yes do feel it is an easy target for extra money.

Exactly. When you get a credit card bill with a balance of zero you don't expect to have to pay that so it should be the same with zero value car tax. If DVLA want you to click a few buttons, then they could politely remind you of that, NOT penalise you like you have actually avoided paying tax.

OP, why not complain to your MP about it? It is an outrage.

AdrianC

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

Exactly. When you get a credit card bill with a balance of zero you don't expect to have to pay that so it should be the same with zero value car tax. If DVLA want you to click a few buttons, then they could politely remind you of that, NOT penalise you like you have actually avoided paying tax.

OP, why not complain to your MP about it? It is an outrage.

That's a bit like saying you shouldn't have to fill in an income tax return because you didn't earn enough to pay tax.

As already said, it's not about the payment. It's about declaring that the car is on the road, the keeper information is valid, and that law is being complied with. This is not rocket science, and it's certainly not new.

Cars that are £0 because of their age have been doing this since the early 90s.
Cars that are low emission have been doing this since 2001.
Cars that are run by the disabled have been doing this for many decades.

unholyangel

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

Exactly. When you get a credit card bill with a balance of zero you don't expect to have to pay that so it should be the same with zero value car tax. If DVLA want you to click a few buttons, then they could politely remind you of that, NOT penalise you like you have actually avoided paying tax.

OP, why not complain to your MP about it? It is an outrage.

They do. Its also stated on the first page of the online process:

You must tax your vehicle even if you don't have to pay anything, for example if you're exempt because you're disabled.

As per my previous post...your vehicle needs a licence to use or keep it on the road. Sometimes that licence may be free of charge, but you still need to apply for the licence. The penalty isn't for not paying tax, its for keeping or using an unlicensed vehicle.

EdGasketTheSecond

Yes but the issue is the clamping and fine which are out of all proportion to the 'crime'. If the OP had not paid tax he owed, then it might be more reasonable, but he didn't owe anything to the gov't as it was zero tax rated. A reminder should have been all that was necessary in this case.

unholyangel

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

Yes but the issue is the clamping and fine which are out of all proportion to the 'crime'. If the OP had not paid tax he owed, then it might be more reasonable, but he didn't owe anything to the gov't as it was zero tax rated. A reminder should have been all that was necessary in this case.

Again, the offence isn't not paying, its using/keeping an unlicensed vehicle on the road.

They commit the exact same offence as someone who pays £140 or £200 a year road tax. And if you read past stories, you'll usually find people will pay for the fpn/clamp to be removed only to then be hit with a demand for backdated tax. The two are separate issues.

Aylesbury_Duck

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

Yes but the issue is the clamping and fine which are out of all proportion to the 'crime'. If the OP had not paid tax he owed, then it might be more reasonable, but he didn't owe anything to the gov't as it was zero tax rated. A reminder should have been all that was necessary in this case.

How many reminders do people need? For a start you get six or twelve months notice every time the tax is due. You get a letter about a month ahead as well and even if you ignore all of that, how hard is it to put a reminder on your phone, email, calendar, fridge door, etc etc. Add to that it can be renewed in a matter of minutes and there really is no excuse.

Aylesbury_Duck

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

OP, why not complain to your MP about it? It is an outrage.

:rotfl: An outrage? Heard it all now.