We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

MSE News: Revealed: 34,000 fined last year for not taxing vehicles which are FREE to tax

Former_MSE_Callum
Former_MSE_Callum Posts: 696 Forumite
Third Anniversary 10 Posts I've been Money Tipped! Newshound!
edited 11 August 2021 at 1:09PM in Motoring
Drivers paid over £500,000 in fines last year for not applying to tax vehicles which cost nothing to tax, data obtained by MoneySavingExpert.com shows...
Read the full story:
'Revealed: 34,000 fined last year for not taxing vehicles which are FREE to tax'
OfficialStamp.gif
Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.
«1

Comments

  • karlie88
    karlie88 Posts: 9,114 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Seems fair to me.
    :grouphug: :D Official MSE canny forumite and HUKD VIP badge member :D :grouphug:
  • peter_the_piper
    peter_the_piper Posts: 30,269 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Plain daft not to, 60 seconds online and its done.
    I'd rather be an Optimist and be proved wrong than a Pessimist and be proved right.
  • Herzlos
    Herzlos Posts: 15,095 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I don't think it's laziness, I just don't think it's clear enough that "free road tax" means they still need to tax it and pay nothing.



    What benefit does "taxing" it have here that's worth the administrative cost? Continuous insurance? If that's all it is, just change the wording so that any car which isn't SORN must be insured and have a valid MOT.
  • Stoke
    Stoke Posts: 3,182 Forumite
    Herzlos wrote: »
    I don't think it's laziness, I just don't think it's clear enough that "free road tax" means they still need to tax it and pay nothing.



    What benefit does "taxing" it have here that's worth the administrative cost? Continuous insurance? If that's all it is, just change the wording so that any car which isn't SORN must be insured and have a valid MOT.

    I totally agreed at first. To me, it felt like a great little money spinner for HM Gov, that they could mug off people with £0 tax cars by doing this.

    So I decided to do some research into it..... I suspect the reason is so the DVLA know which cars are on the road, and which aren't. Taxing the vehicle, albeit for free, indicates to the DVLA that the car has not been crashed, SORN'd, stolen, written off etc. If there is no requirement to do this, then the current status of the car is unknown and that could last x number of years?
  • Paul_DNAP
    Paul_DNAP Posts: 751 Forumite
    500 Posts Second Anniversary Photogenic Rampant Recycler
    It would have been much clearer if we still got the little paper disc every year - you still need a new paper disc, even if you're getting it for free. But in the paperless world it's less obvious that you still need to obtain your updated "virtual tax disc" every year.
    It's always confusing when you get an invoice for £0, how do you pay nothing, do you even have to pay it? Maybe the "no VED" should be altered to a token amount, say a penny, so they say "you need to come and give us £0.01 to get your new year's VED"
    (Although I could be wrong, I often am.)
  • Aylesbury_Duck
    Aylesbury_Duck Posts: 14,780 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Totally fair.
  • VT82
    VT82 Posts: 1,081 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I would want to see the wording on the letter to judge.


    Banks nowadays fall over themselves to make the important messages in letters as clear as possible, with 'what do you need to know' and 'what do I do now?' written as big as possible. This is partly because they have an effective regulator, and partly because it's just obviously the right thing to do.


    In my experience, the public sector (DVLA being one of the worst offenders) is at the opposite end of the spectrum, with terribly designed unhelpful letters being in use for years, and no one is either paid enough to care about making it better, or is held responsible for making things better. It's why I dread any more nationalisation of pretty much anything.


    So as I say, I couldn't judge without seeing how obvious or otherwise the letter made it.
  • Marvel1
    Marvel1 Posts: 7,312 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 26 June 2018 at 4:28PM
    VT82 wrote: »

    So as I say, I couldn't judge without seeing how obvious or otherwise the letter made it.

    Does this help?

    http://acierta.us/v11-reminder-letter.html/ideas-collection-v11-reminder-letter-also-letter

    http://oliff.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/CarTaxV11.jpg
  • Wizard_of_Id
    Wizard_of_Id Posts: 5,512 Forumite
    I was not aware that I still had to go through the paperwork even though my road tax was zero, it was not clear on the form that came in, only when I got a reminder was it in plain English that I still had to go through the motions online.
  • glennamy
    glennamy Posts: 2,086 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Everyone should remember but I think since they done away with the issuing of discs that you had to display and you saw them every day, it seems to have has fallen out of a lot of people's minds, including MOT's, which I liked to do at the same time when renewing...
    Can't Smile Without You
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 346.7K Banking & Borrowing
  • 251.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 451.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 238.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 614.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 174.9K Life & Family
  • 252.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.