Buy tax on line while whilst car is sorn, can I drive ?

[Stinkfoot]

SimonV8ster said:

Stinkfoot said:

I have been doing this for years and have never had a problem. As soon as i have paid for the tax after a sorn period, I have driven the car often same hour, never mind the same day.
It can take up to a week or more to get the disc through the post so it is unreasonable to expect the car to remain off the road until the DVLA can be bothered to post the disc to you.

Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything does it ? It just means you never got caught and had to explain anything.

Sorry but your wrong. I have a friend who is a serving officer and he said there was nothing wrong as the system was showing the car as taxed. The showing part is now largely irrelevant due to the online purchase system.
Show me one single person who has been convicted of failure to display a tax disc after buying it online. You wont.

[Andurron]

If the wait in the post is an issue, just go straight to the post office. They can print off one for you as long as you bring a valid MOT certificate, insurance certificate and the V5C.

[Wills2]

Oilchange said:

I think this 'display' business is all very old fashioned insofar as you couldn't prove you had paid the tax unless you had the disc, now of course its all online so a formality to show a bit of paper really. If I paid the tax I'd drive the car before it turned up, like said, police can check on their computer and will likely not bother you if you've been bent over coughed up to the treasury...

Exactly, it's the payment of tax that they are interesting in enforcing, the failure to display harks back to the days before the system was computerised.

It's all done via ANPR now anyway.

[DrDeAtH]

Just ensure that you carry a copy of the confirmation email in the car until the bit of brightly coloured paper arrives in the post...

[sixspeed]

Whatever the law may say, I've never had an issue with this since the online tax system came into effect. I have taxed my car the morning I want to use it, taken it out, left it parked up, driven through ANPR checks, and no one has batted an eyelid.

Moreover, I rarely have the tax disc displayed (it's in the glove box). I've never received a ticket for not displaying, even when being stopped by BiB or check by a parking attendant etc. These days with the ANPR/online system, the paper disc is largely surplus to requirements anyway.