Car Tax

[theshrew]

Pretty simple question about when the law changes re displaying your tax disc.

I've not long since taxed my car + bike. Will I have to display the discs until they run out or can I take them off straight away when the law changes ?

[marshalla]

No. Yes. They told you that on the renewal notice.

[Dodsy]

marshalla said:

They told you that on the renewal notice.

No they dont, I have mine in front of me now for taxing my car at the end of August and its just a standard notice, no mention of the changes that are happening. You have to go to the DVLA website where they do have a very clear page on the change and the very first thing it says is 'From 1 October 2014, the paper tax disc will no longer need to be displayed on a vehicle windscreen. If you have a tax disc with any months left to run after this date, then it can be removed from the vehicle windscreen and destroyed'

[theshrew]

Dodsy said:

marshalla said:

They told you that on the renewal notice.

No they dont, I have mine in front of me now for taxing my car at the end of August and its just a standard notice, no mention of the changes that are happening. You have to go to the DVLA website where they do have a very clear page on the change and the very first thing it says is 'From 1 October 2014, the paper tax disc will no longer need to be displayed on a vehicle windscreen. If you have a tax disc with any months left to run after this date, then it can be removed from the vehicle windscreen and destroyed'

I never open the letters tbh as i knew what it was anyway.

Thanks Dodsy jobs a good en

[55palfers]

I wonder why the DVLA say the disk should be "destroyed"?

[spitfire-ian]

55palfers said:

I wonder why the DVLA say the disk should be "destroyed"?

It doesn't, it says "can be" and it basically means you have no obligation to keep it.

[sidekickdmr]

Sir, I owe you a virtual Pint!

I was today going to finally get around to buying a decent metal anodized tax disk holder for my car with a cheap knackered falling off plastic thing.

It wasn’t until I saw this thread that I remembered that I only have to display it for another month or so.

You just saved me about £15 and a lot of kicking myself

[photosnob]

Quick question, can you set it up so that it's automatically renewed without paying the silly levy for monthly direct debits? I know I'm cheap but I'd rather keep the extra 10 quid or so a year, and still not have the hassle of renewing it.

[Sheepshanks]

photosnob said:

Quick question, can you set it up so that it's automatically renewed without paying the silly levy for monthly direct debits? I know I'm cheap but I'd rather keep the extra 10 quid or so a year, and still not have the hassle of renewing it.

I've been looking for info on that too, and I haven't seen anything to suggest that it will be possible to renew annually automatically.

[rs1952]

Sheepshanks said:

photosnob said:

Quick question, can you set it up so that it's automatically renewed without paying the silly levy for monthly direct debits? I know I'm cheap but I'd rather keep the extra 10 quid or so a year, and still not have the hassle of renewing it.

I've been looking for info on that too, and I haven't seen anything to suggest that it will be possible to renew annually automatically.

Given the problems that have happened with auto-renewals of insurance, I would be surprised if that many people would want to trust DVLA with their data, especially taking into account that most people don't keep cars that long anyway.

I can see a lot of problems with people being automatically "taxed" for a car they'd flogged months if not years ago.

[Sheepshanks]

rs1952 said:

Given the problems that have happened with auto-renewals of insurance.

I did think about that - I was going to comment that auto-renewal of insurance seems to be waning, although personally I think it's a good idea.

I guess the problem with car tax at 12 months is many people will have changed address, banks etc, so people might think their car has been retaxed and will be unhappy to find it hasn't happened and they've been penalised. As it's a Government body, MPs will bear the brunt of complaints.

[QBee]

While we are on the subject, do we know if there will be a premium for monthly direct debits, and if so, how much? I did look but could not find it.
The present 40% APR charge for paying the year's tax in two 6 month instalments is daylight rubbery.

[photosnob]

QBee said:

While we are on the subject, do we know if there will be a premium for monthly direct debits, and if so, how much? I did look but could not find it.
The present 40% APR charge for paying the year's tax in two 6 month instalments is daylight rubbery.

5%

[QBee]

photosnob said:

QBee said:

While we are on the subject, do we know if there will be a premium for monthly direct debits, and if so, how much? I did look but could not find it.
The present 40% APR charge for paying the year's tax in two 6 month instalments is daylight rubbery.

5%

That's better - only 10.9% APR then. And convenient.

[Sheepshanks]

QBee said:

photosnob said:

QBee said:

While we are on the subject, do we know if there will be a premium for monthly direct debits, and if so, how much? I did look but could not find it.
The present 40% APR charge for paying the year's tax in two 6 month instalments is daylight rubbery.

5%

That's better - only 10.9% APR then. And convenient.

The maths is too hard for me, but does that really come out at 10.9% APR - you wouldn't be paying the last payment until month 12, for example?

[QBee]

Sheepshanks said:

QBee said:

photosnob said:

QBee said:

While we are on the subject, do we know if there will be a premium for monthly direct debits, and if so, how much? I did look but could not find it.
The present 40% APR charge for paying the year's tax in two 6 month instalments is daylight rubbery.

5%

That's better - only 10.9% APR then. And convenient.

The maths is too hard for me, but does that really come out at 10.9% APR - you wouldn't be paying the last payment until month 12, for example?

yup. I checked it twice. I am assuming they direct debit you on or before the first day of the month.
ignore the first 1/12th, it is on the same day you would have paid the full 12 months.
So you are "borrowing" the other 11/12ths for periods ranging from 1 month to 11 months. Average period 6 months.
Using £120 as the car tax figure (makes the maths easier), under direct debit you will be paying £120 plus 5% = £126 in total, £6 "interest". So in effect you are paying £6 to borrow £110 for an average of 6 months, which equates to £12 to borrow £110 for 12 months. £12/£110 = 10.9090909%

[QBee]

That's why I describe the present 6 months tax as 40% APR interest rate.

If you buy your tax as two 6 months disks under the present system, and the annual fee is £200, you will pay £110 twice, which equals £220. So £20 interest, or 10%. Er, no.

Because, you are only "borrowing" half the money, £100, and only borrowing it for 6 months, which is when you make the second payment.

So if you think of it as interest, rather than admin charge, you are paying £20 to borrow £100 for 6 months, which is a rate of 40% per annum.

[ging84]

the numbers don't lie
when you look at it like that it's a wonder why you would for 6months when they could pay on a credit card, no wonder they stick on a high fee for using a credit card.

[photosnob]

ging84 said:

the numbers don't lie
when you look at it like that it's a wonder why you would for 6months when they could pay on a credit card, no wonder they stick on a high fee for using a credit card.

People with common sense just pay annually.

[Petrol Only]

photosnob said:

People with common sense just pay annually.

Or can afford to.

Edited by Petrol Only on Thursday 4th September 17:39