Road Tax

[WelshGas]

I note that vehicles are being listed in the For Sale section with X months Road Tax.
Since the 1st October vehicles are no longer sold with residual Road Tax. The selling owner automatically gets a refund of every full month of Road Tax. The new owner has to pay Road Tax for each month or part thereof from the 1st day of ownership ie before driving it otherwise they are not insured.
Beware!

 

[Andy]

Yes I had noticed this.

 

[calikev]

Its a grey area. Technically its taxed until you tell the dvla you have sold it so it could be a couple of weeks after the new owner drives it away.

 

[teeboy]

But it is in the sellers interest to tell the DVLA really quickly, as they will get any parking/speeding tickets in the mean time. And the seller will get the spare months refunded.

If I was buying a second hand car now I would tax it straight away.

I actually think the new way is quite a good idea, as it encourages the seller and buyer to tell DVLA as soon as possible, and avoids confusion about tax being included or not included - there is no choice.

T

 

[calikev]

You could still drive it home if you bought it on a sunday

 

[teeboy]

The downside of the new system is when ownership of a vehicle is transferred the previous owner gets a refund on any outstanding road tax but that refund is calculated from the beginning of the next month. The new owner, on the other hand, has to tax the car anew and their bill is calculated from the beginning of the current month.

To be fair this is the same as the old system if the old owner removed the disc and asked for a refund, and the new owner ordered a new one, but obviously wasn't the case if you left the disc in as part of the deal.

So effectively the government get is a 1 month tax on 2nd hand cars now - a bit like stamp duty

 

[teeboy]

You could still drive it home if you bought it on a sunday

You are right, but officially you are supposed to tax it before you drive it, if it is a Sunday then doing it online is possible.

 

[calikev]

Yes but technically it will still be taxed until dvla know its been sold.

 

[Yelekreb]

You may find your insurance is invalid without road tax. With the increase in ANPR cameras don't take the risk!

 

[Martin]

When I sold my van last month I called DVLA as the rules had only just changed and I was not sure of the situation, they said it is still taxed until they receive my V5 .