Road Tax and the Law
In October 2014 the traditional paper tax disc was abolished along with changes to the way the vehicle tax is transferred when buying or selling a car.
The number of cars that have been clamped has rocketed by 60%, since the new rules came into force from about 5,000 a month before the changes to 8,630 after. www.moneysupermarket.co.uk
The record of road tax will be held on the DVLA database and the police will now rely on Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to support enforcement and compliance.
You can no longer transfer road tax when buying or selling a car, here is what you need to know to make sure you don’t get caught out.
Buying or selling a vehicle
Road Tax or SORN no longer comes with the vehicle; any unexpired period of road tax cannot be transferred to the new owner. As the new owner, you are required to tax the vehicle before it can be used on the road – this includes giving the vehicle to a member of your family.
- Vehicle demonstration – an unlicensed stock vehicle can only be driven on an accompanied test drive using a trade plate
- Road testing of customers’ vehicles following service or repair – with the tax disc abolished, it will no longer be immediately obvious if a customer’s vehicle is taxed. Motor traders should check with the customer, or use their trade plates when test driving the vehicle
What does this mean for motor traders?
- When you buy or part exhange a vehice into your business, the road tax will excpire and therefore all vehicles will be untaxed
- If road testing is required following a service or repair you will need to make sure the customer’s vehicle is taxed
- Driving unlicenced stock vehicles on the road with trade plates, is permitted, but only for business purposes
- If you drive an unlicened stcock vehicke in te road without registering and taxing it, you will be in breach of the new regualtions
- Accompanied demonstrations of unlicesed sales stcok vehicle can be offered using trade plate licences. Its also important to check your insurance is extended to cover this
- Unaccompanied demonsrations can only be offered on licened vehicles, provided yopur insurance is extended to cover this
- Sales stock vehicles can be used for business or pleasure purposes, as long as the business has registered and taxed the vehicle
If you business is iuinvilved in the sale of new or used vehiclkes you will now need to possess a set of trade plate licenes before being able to offer any deminstartions unless you register and tax the vehicles you intent to sell.
Untaxed sales stcok vehicles cannot be driven on the road, without trade plate licence therefore it isi only the trade plate licence which must be recorded on the Motor Insurance Database (MID) and not the individual sales stock
You can check whether a vehicle has upto date vehicle tax or has been declared SORN (off the road), by going on to the DVLA website and entering in the vehicle Registration and Make or the V5C reference number.https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/