How to prove road tax paid if driving abroad?

[iandc]

Now the tax disc is no longer required to be displayed in UK I was wondering if I was driving abroad and was unfortunate to get stopped by the police to show documents etc how can said police tell whether or not I have valid road tax?

[V8forweekends]

iandc said:

Now the tax disc is no longer required to be displayed in UK I was wondering if I was driving abroad and was unfortunate to get stopped by the police to show documents etc how can said police tell whether or not I have valid road tax?

They won't care.

[CAPP0]

V8forweekends said:

iandc said:

Now the tax disc is no longer required to be displayed in UK I was wondering if I was driving abroad and was unfortunate to get stopped by the police to show documents etc how can said police tell whether or not I have valid road tax?

They won't care.

Precisely. They're no more going to ask you this than they will want to see your income tax return. Ownership, licensing and insurance, and possibly roadworthiness (but not a UK MOT) will be their concern.

[SpikeBmth]

Road tax is only for british roads, as a visitor to some other countries you need to pay to use their roads, either by tolls or buying a vignette.

[Mr Taxpayer]

iandc said:

Now the tax disc is no longer required to be displayed in UK I was wondering if I was driving abroad and was unfortunate to get stopped by the police to show documents etc how can said police tell whether or not I have valid road tax?

As keen and aware foreign policemen they will be know that Road Tax was scrapped in 1937 and so won't bother about it. Nor will they bother about Vehicle Excise Duty (car tax) since it's not a requirement in their juristictions.

[mcflurry]

Maybe keep a copy of the DVLA payment receipt in your glove box, for the unlikely event?

[TooMany2cvs]

SpikeBmth said:

Road tax is only for british roads

No, it isn't. VED is required for a UK-registered vehicle to be road legal. And reciprocity rules mean that a vehicle has to be legal in its home country to be legal in a country it's been temporarily imported into.

SpikeBmth said:

as a visitor to some other countries you need to pay to use their roads, either by tolls or buying a vignette.

Just as foreign vehicles in the UK need to pay tolls here. Toll roads are different from vehicle taxation.

But I'd agree that JohnnyForeignerPlod won't care, unless you're seriously under the microscope for some reason, and they're looking for anything to throw at you.

[paulwirral]

Don't worry about it , I sorned a pick up a few years ago and drove round all year without mention of it , illegal ? Probably , but so is 72mph on the motorway .
Just tax it the day before you come back

[Hugo a Gogo]

iandc said:

Now the tax disc is no longer required to be displayed in UK I was wondering if I was driving abroad and was unfortunate to get stopped by the police to show documents etc how can said police tell whether or not I have valid road tax?

when I come over in my German car, how can you tell if I've paid KFZ Steuer?

[Gafferjim]

Go to "totalcarcheck.com " put your reg in, then print off the result, obviously it's not a legal piece of documentation, but it does show when the vehicle is taxed & MOT's until (can be up to 5 days out if the vehicle has recently been sold etc)

[TooMany2cvs]

Gafferjim said:

Go to "totalcarcheck.com " put your reg in, then print off the result

If you're going to do that, credibility might be enhanced by actually using an official source, not just some random website.

[Geekman]

V8forweekends said:

They won't care.

This

[sim16v]

They do care, in some places.


Friends have had their cars impounded in Germany until they could prove they were taxed.

[TooMany2cvs]

sim16v said:

They do care, in some places.


Friends have had their cars impounded in Germany until they could prove they were taxed.

Ford Galaxy with a turret on the roof, by any chance...?

But all they need to do is point Herr Plod at https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/ - far more credible than a piece of paper stuffed into the glovebox.

[agtlaw]

iandc said:

Now the tax disc is no longer required to be displayed in UK I was wondering if I was driving abroad and was unfortunate to get stopped by the police to show documents etc how can said police tell whether or not I have valid vehicle tax?

www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk

[R1 Indy]

Why would they care? It's of no benefit to them.

[Corbeliere]

I don't know about the rest of the EU but the French Gendarmes and Police have had a memo about the change in the UK.
Maybe this years Le Mans will confirm if they have read the memo or not!

[tonygt3]

Speaking to a friend driving in Germany today. He was stopped for two hours by the police as he did not have a tax disc. Guess the Germans did not get the memo.