VED renewal question on car to be sold in a couple of months

[TameRacingDriver]

I'm most likely going to be selling my car within the next 2 or 3 months. The VED renewal came through the other day.

I was wondering if anyone can confirm my theory that it would be cheaper to tax the car for the full 12 months than putting 6 months on?

My theory being that if I put on 12 months tax @ £330, then cashed in 10 months remaining tax, the overall cost to me would be £55. However, if I put 6 months on @ £181.50, then I'd still only get back £27.50 per month, so the overall cost to me for cashing in at the same time would be £71.50 (181.50 - (4x27.50)).

Is that correct?

SORN is not an option as I do want to have the use of the car in the meantime.

[cuprabob]

Yes, most cost effective option is to tax it for 12 months in a single payment and then be refunded the balance of the full unused months.

[Pica-Pica]

You can pay monthly also. It’s about 5% extra. Then cancel when you sell.

[Jamescrs]

If it was me I would be looking at paying monthly by direct debit for the next few months and then when the car is gone you can simply report the sale to the DVLA and cancel the DD, no refund to have to claim for. May cost you a few pounds extra but ultimately less hassle.

[aterribleusername]

Also facto in that they refund you by cheque if it's not paid by D/D, had a refund for ~£16 last November when I put the weekend car away for the winter and the faff of getting into town to pay the cheque in meant it sat on my table for long enough to get lost.

[cuprabob]

aterribleusername said:

Also facto in that they refund you by cheque if it's not paid by D/D, had a refund for ~£16 last November when I put the weekend car away for the winter and the faff of getting into town to pay the cheque in meant it sat on my table for long enough to get lost.

Most banks allow you pay in cheques using their banking app these days.

[Mark V GTD]

Sorry to jump on this but I have a related question. All cars costing over £40k have additional VED charges in their first five years. If you were to sell a car with this extra VED in, say, the first year - do you get it back per unused months same as normal? Some cars VED is £2k in the first year!

[TameRacingDriver]

Great, thanks chaps, I will do the full 12 months then.

I do also see the logic to doing it monthly, but frankly, I'm happy to go through the hassle, as said, I'll just scan the cheque using my banking app.