Reclassify de-commissioned Taxi as private light goods??

Sarkymite

Hello all, many years since I last posted! Last year I treated myself to an old London Taxi (long story - I've just always wanted one!) to use as my day to day vehicle. Obviously it is not licenced as a taxi and it is not used as a taxi. I use it only as a private vehicle.
The trouble is, the annual road tax on a Taxi is huge. The person I bought it from said that as I'm not using it as a taxi, I can reclassify the vehicle as private light goods and thereby reduce the taxation on it. However, I'm a very cautious, law-abiding citizen and I'm just not sure whether that's legal.
What criteria does a vehicle need to meet in order to be reclassified as PLG? Is there a list anywhere that I can look at? The Gov.uk website suggests I would have to make body modifications to it (which I don't plan to do at the moment, though in the future it may become a mini-camper).
Hoping someone with some car know-how can give me some pointers!

molerat

What year is the cab ?

If between 2001 and 2017 then they are in the high emissions tax brackets, band K or L, at £415 / £710.

Nothing you will be able to do about that.

It would need to be post Mar 2017 to pay £190.

I can't see a separate tax class for taxis.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/637218fde90e07185aae771d/v355x1-notes-about-tax-classes.pdf

Rodders53

When was it first registered?
What type of fuel/engine has it?
What is its Revenue Weight (< or > 3500 kg)?
What VED tax class is it in currently?  What is the annual rate?

There's no specific 'taxi' (or Hackney Carriage as HMRC call them) VED class that I can find.  

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-of-vehicle-tax-v149 is probably worth having a look through the docs and links from there to others?

Car_54

Rodders53 said:

When was it first registered?
What type of fuel/engine has it?
What is its Revenue Weight (< or > 3500 kg)?
What VED tax class is it in currently?  What is the annual rate?

There's no specific 'taxi' (or Hackney Carriage as HMRC call them) VED class that I can find.  

There used to be, but AFAIK it was abolished years ago. It was actually cheaper than for private cars, but few black cab  drivers actually used it, because it came with restrictions, e.g. no parking overnight on the road

Sarkymite

OK, thanks all so far...
Replying to queries:

* It's a 2008 model.
* Diesel, 2.5 litre engine
* revenue weight I don't know??
* Current tax class is M1 (this means its used for the carriage of passengers, not more than 8 seats in addition to driver)

To my mind the class is wrong as it's not used for the carriage of passengers except when my partner is travelling with me - it's no longer used for that purpose. But I'm not sure about the legality of reclassifying it as private light goods despite what the vendor told me!!

I suppose one answer may be to phone DVLA and ask them, but I felt like I need to at least have some idea of the correct answer before I do that.

Sarkymite

Should have added, my annual VED cost ATM is around £700 - I'm paying monthly so the true annual cost must be slightly less than this if paid in a lump sum.  You can see why I might want to bring that down - I always knew it would be a very expensive vehicle to own and run, and if I have to pay it, then that's fine, but nonetheless I like to explore all options!

In the future I plan to have it converted to electric - already have quotes for that and a company interested in doing it, but we all agreed its more cost effective to let the current engine live out its natural life first. Presumably converting it would definitely change the tax class???

Goudy

The LTi TX4 2.5 auto falls into band L.
The manual in band K.

LTI TX4 Saloon (from 2006) car tax (parkers.co.uk)

The road tax on them is nothing to do with them being registered as a taxi, it's just they are polluting.
There are a lot of this type of taxi on the market as they are being banned from cities due to the pollution.

As for changing it's tax class with an EV conversion, I think you need to contact DVLA or talk to a converter.

I think I remember reading that cars between 2001 and 2017 are pretty much welded to their original tax classification no matter what you do with them. DVLA won't change it unless it's older or newer than those dates.

Herzlos

Sarkymite said:
* Current tax class is M1 (this means its used for the carriage of passengers, not more than 8 seats in addition to driver)

To my mind the class is wrong as it's not used for the carriage of passengers except when my partner is travelling with me - it's no longer used for that purpose. But I'm not sure about the legality of reclassifying it as private light goods despite what the vendor told me!!

I think that's correct, it's a standard car that can't carry more than 9 people. That it doesn't have more than 1 passenger isn't relevant.

Edit: A 2008 is emissions based and £700/year makes it a band L alternative fuel car (226-255g/km CO2): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6603f64b13397a0011e419be/v149-rates-of-vehicle-tax-for-cars-motorcycles-light-goods-vehicles-and-private-light-goods-vehicles.pdf

I'm kind of surprised a taxi is that bad on fuel since you'd have thought fuel economy was a big deal to taxi drivers.

Private Light Goods Vehicle only applies to cars before 2001, so that's not an option.

molerat

Sarkymite said:
* Current tax class is M1 (this means its used for the carriage of passengers, not more than 8 seats in addition to driver)

M1 is the type approval and is for passenger cars, nothing to do with being a taxi.  My current car is M1 as were the previous 2.
(M2 & 3 are buses / coaches, N is for goods vehicles and O for trailers)

molerat

Herzlos said:

I'm kind of surprised a taxi is that bad on fuel since you'd have thought fuel economy was a big deal to taxi drivers.

More so as London has been pretty hot on emissions for many years and these are as bad if not worse than the much maligned Chelsea Tractors.  Don't see many climate activists slashing the tyres of black cabs !  It would seem these can still run in London until 2030 and are exempt from ULEZ regulations.

facade

M1 means it is taxed as a car, and for a 2008, by emissions, band L means £710 a year.

It has been type approved as M1.

You need to change it's classification to N1 to tax it as a Commercial vehicle.

Remove the rear seats, panel up the rear windows and probably get an SVA test done as a van because it isn't type approved as N1 by the manufacturer.

Now you know why they are so cheap to buy.......