penalty for no tax..........

[markbigears]

had to use my car to drve to the train station, and car was a day out of tax. Came back to find cops had posted a "car reported to DVLA" on it. Bugger.....anyway called in at the local police staion to ask if i was going to get a fine, she says no but get a tax disc pronto sonny.... which i did next day.
anyway 2 months latter and i get a fine for 37 quid for no tax.....i admit i am in the wrong....completely forgot about it. Anyway slightly pi$$ed off about this fine, any way can get out of it? or should i just pay up. Cheers guys, mark

[madcop]

Did you back tax the car for the whole of the time it was out of date?

I do not think you can get out of this unless you request to be dealt with by a court.
The fines for no tax are calculated on 5 X the annual rate of duty plus any back tax, plus costs, so I would quit while you are ahead If I were you!

It could put you in the region of over £800 if it goes wrong.

There is no period of 7 or 14 days grace to get tax for cars or other vehicles.
Once it has expired, it is an offence and can be dealt with as such immediately, even the day after.

[markbigears]

thanks madcop..... im a forgetful prat, cheque in the post, many thanks for the reply.

[danger mouse]

Exactly the same thing happened to me last month. There is no way out of it unless you want to go to court. As I would have pleaded guilty, what's the point? I coughed up and forgot about it.

You should probably do the same


Mouse

[Del Sydyway]

I have been done for this frequently. Not criminal behaviour just I occasionally suffer from the headuparsesometimes virus. For information mainly, the score is roughly:

You need to pay the back dated tax from when the licence expired until you were caught and a fine. The max limit fine/duty payable is really used to hammer dodgy car dealers and the real criminal fraternity, not your average Joe Blow who forgot to renew the disc.

HOWEVER.

If you do get done for this do not pay the fine thru the post. The local DVLA office have the right/power to amend the level of tax/fine due. So go there with your biggest puppy eyes, plead poverty but don't bullshit them. My local DVLA office is only 25 mintues from my house and in the city centre so it's easy, if you live out in the sticks it may not be worthwhile.

BTW. One time I had my Pug 1.9 sitting in the driveway for months while I worked on it. So no tax etc. Moved it across the road (I live in a cul-de-sac off a no through road). while I went up to B&Q to get some fencing and bring it back in a van. The car was on the 'public' road, in a parking space, for no more than an hour when one of my neighbours phoned the polis and I got done. Which is certainly one time when I wish the polis didn't respond quickly

[poidal]

My car was in for an MOT last year, and due to some required repairs taking a few days, the tax ran out while it was there. When the car was ready, I picked it up, and drove to the town centre, where I parked for 20 mins while I queued at the PO for my new disc. When I got back to the car, lo and behold, a notice was affixed to it, saying I would be reported for no tax. A few weeks later, the letter arrives, demanding as I remember it £25. So I rang the phone number on the letter, and told the stroppy woman the scrpt. In the end, I had to get a letter from the garage outlining the facts, and my own covering letter.(I pointed out that vehicles are in any case exempt from road tax when travelling to or from an MOT appointment). Sent them in, and heard no more about it. It was a bit of a time-waster having to sort it out, but I'd rather do that than just hand over the money to them. That would just encourage them even more.

[kevinday]

Del Sydyway said: BTW. One time I had my Pug 1.9 sitting in the driveway for months while I worked on it. So no tax etc. Moved it across the road (I live in a cul-de-sac off a no through road). while I went up to B&Q to get some fencing and bring it back in a van. The car was on the 'public' road, in a parking space, for no more than an hour when one of my neighbours phoned the polis and I got done. Which is certainly one time when I wish the polis didn't respond quickly

Nice neighbours you've got.....Not

[icamm]

Ummm. The tax was one day out of date - so it was the 1st of the month? You taxed you car that day, or the day after?, so it was taxed for the whole of that month? So although you forgot to pay on day one you have still payed for the whole month. Therefore you have payed the back tax owing on the vehicle.

I would send a polite letter back explaining the circumstances and that, on realising your error, you immediately corrected it and payed from the date the previous tax had expired. You may get away with - you may not - but it's worth a try.