Unexpected DVLA "extra handling fee of 10%" on road tax

n1knak

Hi, due to being on furlough I SORNed my car for a few months and then decided to sell it, I started the process of taking off the private reg plate and as I was waiting a lifetime for the new V5 to come in with its original registration number on; I was unable to tax it by DD to get it back on the road to take it to the car dealer.
I rang the DVLA and had to pay for 6 months tax on the phone- the caller didn't mention any fee's for card so I just paid on credit card.

I then sold the car and when the car transferred to the new owner I was able to get the tax back for the 5 months I didn't use- however it was short of around £35. I contacted the DVLA and received a letter response saying "If your tax was for six months, you paid an extra handling charge of 10% which is not included in the refund".

Does anyone know if this is correct? Can I go back to them and request the 10% as I was not informed it would be taken? I can't find anything online that suggests there would be a 10% fee.

Grumpy_chap

This is correct.
You could have taxed for 12 months and still cancelled and got the full value of remaining months back.

Marvel1

https://www.gov.uk/calculate-vehicle-tax-rates

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-refund

Also when you have a reminder, it shows the price, you will see taxing at 6 months is more than the  12 months.

AdrianC

Sorry, but "short by £35", for five months?

The most expensive VED band is M, 255g/km CO2, 2006-17.
£580 for 12mo, £319 for 6.
A 5mo refund would be £241.66, you'd have been expecting £265 if you were working on a pro-rata. That's £24, not £35.

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables/rates-for-cars-registered-on-or-after-1-march-2001

And, no, you have zero hope for a refund. There's been a 10% premium on buying 6-mo tax discs since at least the 80s. It's shown on every single V11. No, you didn't have one this time, because you were coming off SORN...

n1knak

The cost was £310.75 for 6 months and the refund was £235.41. 

Thanks for the responses, the issue is that I wasn't aware of a 10% charge because I didn't have V5 and it wasn't mentioned on the phone at the time.

At least the ridiculous monthly cost is now gone so I suppose I've won overall  

AdrianC

So it was Band L. 2006-17, 226-255g/km. And you can't say you didn't know what the VED was when you bought the car...

£565 for 12mo single card or DD payment, £310.75 for 6mo single card payment (or £296.63 for 6mo by single DD)

£565/12 = £47.08/mo = £235.41 for 5mo repayment.
£310.75/6 = £51.79/mo = £23.54 difference, not £35.

BTW, had you done the plate transfer by post, or online...? Online, the V5C would have come through in days. By post, DVLA have had a huge backlog since they were closed for four months during the first Welsh lockdown.