Odd road tax pricing

[DaveH23]

Got my renewal letter through for road tax expiring at the end of Oct and it has the normal pricing for 6 and 12 months and then 3 options to pay by DD.

6 months (1 off payment)
12 months (1 off payment)
Monthly (12 monthly payments)

The 12 month 1 off is the same as the original 12 months but 6 months 1 off payment is cheaper than the original 6 months.

Does this make sense? If so does anybody know why?

Can post up a picture if it helps.

[Vixpy1]

Think 6 months used to be 10% more expensive and is not 5%

[DaveH23]

But why 2 different prices for 6 months?

There are 5 options to choose from in total? I can understand changing the price but giving two 6 month options at different prices is bizzare.

[blondini]

Noticed this on my renewal reminder. It's also cheaper over the full year to take the monthly payment by direct debit option than it is to make two 6 monthly payments using an alternative payment method.

They must want to push us towards direct debit.

[Gavin0478]

Of course they want to push us all to monthly direct debit, that way they can slip in monthly road pricing.

[Nigel Worc's]

Gavin0478 said:

Of course they want to push us all to monthly direct debit, that way they can slip in monthly road pricing.

And monthly increases in road tax will seem less than annual increases, rather like they did when they swapped us to buying fuel in litres rather than gallons.

[rigga]

DaveH23 said:

Got my renewal letter through for road tax expiring at the end of Oct and it has the normal pricing for 6 and 12 months and then 3 options to pay by DD.

6 months (1 off payment)
12 months (1 off payment)
Monthly (12 monthly payments)

The 12 month 1 off is the same as the original 12 months but 6 months 1 off payment is cheaper than the original 6 months.

Does this make sense? If so does anybody know why?
I
Can post up a picture if it helps.

I had this on my renewal, most odd and thought it was a misprint.

Edited by rigga on Sunday 12th October 17:47

[55palfers]

Nigel Worc's said:

And monthly increases in road tax will seem less than annual increases, rather like they did when they swapped us to buying fuel in litres rather than gallons.

That was one of the biggest con tricks ever perpetrated on the public by a long way.

Second only to decimalisation.

[aw51 121565]

6 months' "one off payment" for 'road tax' paid by DD is 50% of 12 months' *standard rate* 'road tax' "paid upfront" (it used to be 10% more, and still is by other methods) ; ditto, 12 months' 'road tax' is at the expected rate when paid for by DD or outright nowadays.

[cynic]Other posters have alluded to getting us all on DD then upping the monthly charge with no-one noticing .[/cynic]

Otherwise, 6 months' 'road tax' is 10% extra ( as per usual) if paid outright, whereas an ongoing commitment to pay for 12 months' road tax' by DD is 5% extra (new one this, possibly see above )...

PS I've never had a Vehicle Taxation Reminder form with a "Direct Debit application" form on the back - desperate times for UKplc2014!!1!

[Mojooo]

I suspect it is to encourage people to go onto DD and they charge you automatically every 6 months so less chance of peopel forgetting to pay.

[GrizzlyBear]

55palfers said:

Nigel Worc's said:

And monthly increases in road tax will seem less than annual increases, rather like they did when they swapped us to buying fuel in litres rather than gallons.

That was one of the biggest con tricks ever perpetrated on the public by a long way.

Second only to decimalisation.

Agree that decimalisation was nothing more than theft, but for me the number one spot goes to the slow theft via interest rate suppression and inflation that seems to ignore things I we actually buy like food, fuel and housing and instead concentrate on stuff that is discretionary like big TVs, tablet computers and digital cameras (wonder why they did that…).

The VED changes were a golden opportunity to change the way VED was collected; they could have made it harder to avoid and cheaper to administer by just sticking it on fuel, instead they used it as an opportunity to cut their costs (no discs) while increasing the cost and awkwardness to us (tax cannot stay on the car after sale, with no partial months for purchase or refund) and it will be easier to force through regular increases via direct debits. Basically all politicians are the same.

Of course we have the faintest shred of democracy next year, but let’s face it, this the UK so people will probably vote the way their parents did…