Technology and the internet have made it easier than ever for motorists to keep on top with the admin linked to buying and owning a car. Remember the days when getting an insurance quote meant spending hours ringing around dozens of companies and answering the same questions each time? The internet has revolutionised the way in which we all do business, and not only can you buy your car tax online through the government website, you can check the tax status of any other car, such as one you are thinking of buying.
Car tax in the UK is fairly complex, and there is not a standard price which all motorists pay. Before 2017, the calculation was based on the size of the engine in your car, with a driver of a small 1 litre car paying substantially less than someone driving a big 2 litre SUV. In 2017 the system was changed to reflect the carbon emissions which each car produced. This has resulted in a range of bands from car tax. The drivers of the least polluting electric cars pay nothing for their annual car tax. Other vehicles make one level of payment in the first year of owning the vehicle, and this can be as high as £2,365. In subsequent years, the rates again range from zero for the least polluting cars through to £620 for large vehicles which emit more than 255g of carbon dioxide per kilometre. There are also exemptions for historic or vintage cars, usually defined as any car which is 40 years old, or older.
Drivers have the option of paying for their whole year’s car tax in one lump sum, online using a credit or debit card. If you don’t want to pay your car tax annually, or need to spread the cost for financial reasons, there is also the option to pay every six months, or monthly by direct debit. This is a good option if you have a lot going on and would prefer just to have your car tax payment going out every month in smaller chunks.
At a time where cost of living is the headline on nearly every news bulletin, it’s tempting to look for ways to cut costs wherever possible. Unfortunately, not paying your car tax isn’t really a sensible option. It’s a legal requirement for drivers in the UK to pay their road tax, and the automatic number plate recognition software in most police cars means that there is a high probability that you will get stopped. The penalty for not having road tax is a fine, and points on your driving licence.
If your car is in one of the categories which is exempt for road tax, then you still have to go through the online process of applying for the road tax on an annual basis, even if there is nothing to pay. This is one of the aspects of the system which does catch a lot of people out, and even though you are unlikely to be fined if the police decide you had no money to pay, you still have to deal with the hassle of being stopped by the police and sorting it out in the back of the police car.
There are many reasons why someone may want to check car road tax on someone else’s car. If there’s been a car abandoned in your road for weeks, reporting it as not having road tax might prompt the police or local Council to get it moved. Checking the car tax online also tells you when the current tax is set to expire, and serves as a helpful reminder to log on and buy another year’s tax before it expires. DVLA will send out car tax reminders to the vehicle’s registered keeper, but these are easily missed. Also, not everyone who pays the tax is also the registered keeper of the vehicle concerned.
If your car has been taken off the road for an extended period of time, you won’t have to pay tax during this period. This could be because it’s a sporty convertible which you park up in the garage over the winter months, or because it’s in need of serious repair and is parked up on bricks on the driveway. In these scenarios, there is a process called SORN, which means a Statutory Off Road Notifcation. There are some fairly strict rules in order to qualify for SORN. The two main requirements is that the vehicle must be completely off the public road such as on a driveway or in the garage, and that it must not be used on the road at all, including being driven to a mechanic for repairs. Once you are ready to put your car back on the road, all you need to do is go online and pay for the road tax again, which will automatically cancel the SORN and allow you to drive your car on the road again.
In the old days of car tax discs, you were able to send your tax disc back to the DVLA when you sold your car, and reclaim the cost of the unused portion of the tax. Alternatively, you could transfer the car tax to the person who bought the car. This is no longer possible, and when you sell a car, the tax is automatically cancelled. You will still receive a refund for the unused proportion of the tax, but the new owner will have to go online and buy their own tax before they pick up the car. Similarly, when you buy a car, you will have to make sure that you have taxed it online in your own name before driving away from the garage forecourt.