Taxing a car early

[thinfourth]

I am going to be away for when my cars are due to run out of tax.

So instead of getting a fecking huge fine for not taxing my car which is unlikely to be on the road while i am away can i tax it early and will i get credit for the months i still have to run on my current tax disc.

I will sorn one as that is going into storage but the other will be used occasionally by my nieghbour

[herewego]

You'll be able to tax it online from wherever you are if you take the relevant details with you. Otherwise you can leave the details with the neighbour and s/he can tax it.

[pdV6]

herewego said:

You'll be able to tax it online from wherever you are

Bit tricky - you need the reference number that you only get when the reminder comes through and you also need to put the disc in the window of your car to avoid a "failure to display" penalty.

[7db]

You can use the reference number on your V5 instead of the reminder notice.
Failure to display is pretty rare if you are actually taxed, and is the kind of think that parking attendants do from time to time.

[herewego]

pdV6 said:

herewego said:

You'll be able to tax it online from wherever you are

Bit tricky - you need the reference number that you only get when the reminder comes through and you also need to put the disc in the window of your car to avoid a "failure to display" penalty.

Oh yeah. I'd forgotten they send the disc in the post. Maybe the neighbour can look out for it.

[brucev8]

I was wondering exactly the same thing as the OP. I'm off for a four month all-expenses-paid trip to sunny Basra, which I'm told is delightful at this time of year. Would have been a shame to be sent by one part of HMG and fined by another for not being there to tax my cars. Looks like I don't have to worry now. Cheers PHers!

[MickC]

7db said:

You can use the reference number on your V5 instead of the reminder notice.
Failure to display is pretty rare if you are actually taxed, and is the kind of think that parking attendants do from time to time.

In fact my reminder didn't even have the reference number on it - it referred me to the V5!

Typical really as I had just stuffed the reminder into my bag to do whilst working away, I had to wait till I got home to get the V5 ref to do it. Last year, the reference number was on the reminder, so no idea why they have changed it.

So if you are going to do it online when you are away, make sure you have all the info you need.

[pdV6]

MickC said:

So if you are going to do it online when you are away, make sure you have all the info you need.

Oh, and make sure your insurance renewal is way away from your tax renewal; this year I couldn't tax online 'cos the DVLA all-knowing, all-seeing computer wouldn't recognise that my insurance was valid despite the insurer updating the system 3 separate times. Great.