Road tax period

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  • Marvel1
    Marvel1 Posts: 7,172 Forumite
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    akkers wrote: »

    IMO if you pay for 6 months, you should get 6 months.

    Buy a car on the 1st of the month ;)

    P.s. tax it for 12 months, its cheaper.
  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,552 Forumite
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    Im sure the OP will soon complain when they are charged extra for months with 31 days in them. :)
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • akkers
    akkers Posts: 259 Forumite
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    Lets say bhy some historical quirk the tax payer got the extra days (say you taxed a vehicle on 22nd Jan and the system gave you 6 months and 9 days because it couldnt cope with part months). Would the govt sit back and let people take these extra free days? Hell no; the IT systems would be changed overnight.
    My car tax is £450/yr which works out £37.50/month or £1.23/day. Now if I taxed my vehicle on 22nd Jan then I lose 21 days which works out to £25.89 - thats a tidy sum to hand over to the govt for nothing.
    Do energy companies bill their standing charge on a calendar month basis? No.
    Does my comms company bill people on whole calendar months? No.

    There would be uproar in the country if utility companies charged by whole month.
    ...and no, gyms do not charge by whole calendar months. They charge per month from the date you started. So if you started your membership on 18th of the months then your bill period runs from 18th to 17th of each month. That is case with most gyms; I have used many of them.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    akkers wrote: »
    My car tax is £450/yr
    Well, hold on one minute...


    First off, it isn't £450/year.

    I presume it's a post-April 2017 £40k+ list price car? VED for all post-April 2017 non-electric cars is £140/year, with a premium for high-value cars of £310/year for the first five years.

    The cost of a few days worth of that combined VED and premium is utterly insignificant compared to the depreciation on that car over the period, unless it's something VERY unusual and relatively "exotic". Also, the situation for VED hasn't changed one iota since that car was brand new - so you bought it in the full knowledge of the position (or, rather, you would have if you'd done the slightest pre-purchase research).

    The only other way it could be anything approaching that figure is if it's pre-2017, and in one of the very highest CO2 bands.

    Band K (201-225g/km post 2006, and 201g/km+ 2001-2006) is £315.
    Band L (226-255g/km post 2006) is £540.
    Band M (256g/km+ post 2006) is £555.

    Given that you freely chose to buy a car in one of the very highest VED bands (L and M were north of £400 when they were introduced), then I'm sorry, but you really don't have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to moaning about the cost of VED.
  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,552 Forumite
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    You have the choice of waiting until the 1st of the month to tax the car. Dont swap cars or need to tax mid month and there are no issues.

    My tax is £30 a year, it didnt even occur to me what date i collected and taxed the car, did i lose 1 day or 29 days? No idea. I collected the car on a suitable day and paid what i needed to.

    Compared to other motoring costs its a tiny number, £20 for a litre of fuel at the small local filling station was more costly. (exaggeration it was only £19.95 a litre) :)
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • Marvel1
    Marvel1 Posts: 7,172 Forumite
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    akkers wrote: »
    My car tax is £450/yr

    Do energy companies bill their standing charge on a calendar month basis? No.
    Does my comms company bill people on whole calendar months? No.

    Should have got a car with cheaper tax, there are loads ;)


    Now now you can't leave others out:

    Does TV licence charge/refund calender month? Yes

    Does council tax? Yes
  • Cetshwayo
    Cetshwayo Posts: 518 Forumite
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    Marvel1 wrote: »
    Should have got a car with cheaper tax, there are loads ;)

    That tow 3.5tonnes (in my case).

    I agree with the op there is no good reason VED can not start on any day of the month.

    Also spreads the load on the system.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    Cetshwayo wrote: »
    I agree with the op there is no good reason VED can not start on any day of the month.

    Also spreads the load on the system.
    Does it? Or would it increase it?

    "Oh, I only use my car every week or two, so I'll just tax it when I need it, then SORN it the day after."
  • droopsnoot
    droopsnoot Posts: 1,758 Forumite
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    edited 23 January 2019 at 2:12PM
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    There is no good reason, if the system were being designed from scratch now. There is no significant reason to go through the costs and upheaval of making the change for the relatively small number of people it will affect, though, so it's unlikely to be changed. Look at the recent minor changes to the VED system and how many people are still surprised even though they were implemented almost five years ago.
  • Bigphil1474
    Bigphil1474 Posts: 2,414 Forumite
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    The real scam is cancelling VED when a change of owner occurs, not what date you start paying - which is only a result of the VED being cancelled. They could change the system so that if a month has already been paid for by the previous owner of a vehicle, the new owner only has to start paying from the beginning of the next month. That way there's no double paying, the buyer is slightly better off, the seller is no worse off, and you still keep the full months you pay for. They only have to set the system up so that it makes sure each calendar month has been paid by someone, or the car's been SORNed. There's no valid reason for cancelling VED on a vehicle because of a change of owner.
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