Car tax (road fund licence) - likely to get 'done'?

My tax has just run out and I'm stoney broke for a week or so.

From the leaflet that came with the renewal form... "We will not send you a penalty letter provided that there is no gap between the expiry of the old tax disc and the commencement of the new one" which to me means you have a month.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

They did me for the 101, but 'only' for £80.

Erm, how do you make "no gap" = "a month"?

I think there is a window of 28 days (14 each side of the current licence expiry date) in which you can get the new licence or file a SORN. Once that 14 days after the expiry has occured any new licence will run from the begining of the next month so you end up with a 1 month gap...

So Dave Liquorice was, like

I think the old 14 days' grace idea went out withe the tough new rules, but ICBW. I think it's now 14 days before and 0 days after.

So 90ninety was, like

I reckon your best bet is to tax it asap and hope for the best. If they do try to get you for having a "gap", at least you could plead it was an oversight and show that you genuinely intended to renew, i.e. you didn't wait until they spotted it but acted as soon as you realised the oversight.

They attempted to get me for not sorning a car. I got a letter off them about a month and a half after it would have run out. IIRC they tried to hit me for 2 months worth of road tax (at the going rate) plus a fine of about £40 I think. The fine doubled if i didnt pay within a certain time period.

So - if you do get find it isnt going to be the end of the world.

One of my mates forgot to tax his car recently and drove around for a month and a bit (unknowingly) with no tax. He rang the DVLA up once he realised and confessed. He didnt recieve a reminder and told them so.

They got him to pay them the back tax for the complete month he had missed and then go and buy a tax disc from the PO to cover the month that we were part way through.

You could try that. If it doesnt work then you might get a small fine through the post.

because the new tax disk starts on the 1st of whichever month you buy it in, does it not?

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Not necessarily. You can purchase your tax disc up to 14 days before the end of the old one and it starts from the first of the month after.

You can also buy a new disc up to 14 days after the end of the month, in which case it will start from the beginning of that month - hence "no break".

Regards

Steve G

MVP wrote:

There never really was an official (i.e. legal) 14 day grace - it was something that the ACPO decided on many moons ago.

Regards

Steve G

Richard Brookman wrote:

I didn't know the rules had changed on the 1st Jan 2004... My old car was in it's last month of 12 when I killed it in Nov last year and passed it over to the insurers ,so I didn't get a reminder. Tax on the new motor was all dealt with (and paid for) by the dealer.

I've tried digging about on the DVLA site all I've found so far is:

I can't find anything about having to apply before the end of the month. You get the reminder "about two weeks before" the old one expires.

Most likely, as it's only been 1 month, they'll want a "contribution". I'd be surprised if it's more than £100

Regards

Steve G

90n> I have not had my ninety off the driveway since Christmas. The Licence (tax)

On or around Tue, 01 Mar 2005 17:35:20 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice" enlightened us thusly:

You can get the new one early, yes. The 14 days, AFAIK, *only* applies if you've applied for a new disc by post, *before* the old one runs out.

You can, of course, though, apply for a disc to run from the beginning of the month, even on the 30th, say, if you're law-abiding, thereby avoiding a gap in tax, at the expense of losing most of a month, or rather, not "gaining" a month.

I got a 25 quid fixed penalty thing for forgetting to tax the bike the other year, but that took about 3 months. The bike was in the shed and not in use, at the time.

Thanks for all the help and advice chaps. I'm less worried now. The back of one of the forms says 'minimum fine £1000'!!! Thats why I was worried. BTW I did manage to get my tax disc before I made the original post.

Cheers, Stew.

Whoops, still got old signature on the laptop!

Thats reserved for persistent offenders who end up in court. "Oversights" a treated less harshly.

If you can buy it up to 14 days into the month and it starts at the beginning of that month then you have 14 days to get one without a gap. I'll be straight down the post office as soon as Paddocks arrange my refund.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Dave, you don't have to apply before the end of the month but you can (if you want to).

Regards

Steve G

Dave Liquorice wrote:

So how long after the end of the month can you apply?