Car Tax (RFL) refund process

[HustleRussell]

I taxed my car in the middle of March so I received a 6-month disc which ends 31/08. I have now decided I want to put the car back on a SORN at the end of this month and get a refund for the remaining tax (5 full months). However a colleague has told me that since the refund process takes some time, I will end up losing my tax money for the month of April too. Can anyone confirm or correct this?

[mwcr85]

Depends how quickly they receive and process it (i.e. before the 31st of March), if you send it now 1st class you may be ok.

[mnkiboy]

If you sent it today you'll get April. Luckily the date they use is when they receive it, not when they eventually get round to processing it.

[abbotsmike]

IME a month or two back, they were pretty quick. Sent the form off around the 20/21 feb, and got the march onwards money back.

[HustleRussell]

Can I legally continue to use the car until the end of the month without displaying the tax disc (maybe taking a copy or keeping a copy of the refund form)? This sounds a lot like a method of deliberately extorting another month, when I feel like I have already been screwed for two weeks as the disc started two weeks before I actually bought it!

[abbotsmike]

HustleRussell said:

Can I legally continue to use the car until the end of the month without displaying the tax disc (maybe taking a copy or keeping a copy of the refund form)? This sounds a lot like a method of deliberately extorting another month, when I feel like I have already been screwed for two weeks as the disc started two weeks before I actually bought it!

Nope. On the sorn form (V70?) you have to declare the date from which the vehicle is going to be off the road. If that date is after the point that the DVLA receive the form, I doubt they'll like it.

IIRC, it's also an offence to not display a tax disc.

[HustleRussell]

Thanks. Can anyone answer the question more definitively? Do I have to stop using the car the moment I take the disc out of the windscreen?

[mwcr85]

HustleRussell said:

Thanks. Can anyone answer the question more definitively? Do I have to stop using the car the moment I take the disc out of the windscreen?

Yes, you can get done for "failure to display"

[AllNines]

You can use your car up to the last day of the month as long as you post the V14 form to DVLA on that day and tick the SORN box. Best done at a Post Office where you can get a proof of posting. It's not 'they must receive before the end of the month', it's about posting it.