UK tax disc abolished

[Mark]

Not the tax itself of course, but it's all done by automatic numberplate recognition these days, no police officer has looked at a physical tax disc for many a year; so no point having them!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25223631

[SGWilko]

Wouldn't it be so much better - and perhaps discourage such prolific and unnecessary car journeys - if the system were to become PAYG? For example, my clapped out Astra diesel could still incur a maximum charge of £225 pa if I used it every day, but this would significantly reduce the less I use it. I only managed to rack up 2000 miles in it last year!

Link this in to insurance companies, and they can then see if you really are only traveling the miles you stated on the quote form.

[Mark]

I don't think so tbh, because it's useful to have a fixed cost in terms of tax per year; and a pay as you go tax element, which we already have in the form of fuel duty.

[SGWilko]

I don't think so tbh, because it's useful to have a fixed cost in terms of tax per year; and a pay as you go tax element, which we already have in the form of fuel duty.

True, but whilst you save on fuel use by not using it, there is no incentive on the road tax element. Whilst the revenue from the tax disc has not gone on the roads in yonks, it would be nice to think one is rewarded by not contributing to road wear?

[Mark]

[
True, but whilst you save on fuel use by not using it, there is no incentive on the road tax element. Whilst the revenue from the tax disc has not gone on the roads in yonks, it would be nice to think one is rewarded by not contributing to road wear?

Which is why it's not called road tax, as you say, hasn't been for yonks.

Car tax also allows you to park your car on the road, which takes up space, so that element needs to be considered. If it's parked off road and not used, then you can declare it off road and not pay any tax.

[SGWilko]

DO you work for HMRC??? :D

[Rollo]

True, but whilst you save on fuel use by not using it, there is no incentive on the road tax element. Whilst the revenue from the tax disc has not gone on the roads in yonks, it would be nice to think one is rewarded by not contributing to road wear?

Why?
If you don't use the road, it still needs to be there when you do. An element of fixed cost pricing does inherently make good sense for that reason.

Aside: We haven't had registration stickers in NSW for a couple of years now. The reminder that your rego is due soon, disappeared; I find that annoying.

[D-Type]

I think the main benefit of having a tax disc system is the requirement to produce MOT and insurance certification to tax the car. Take away the tax disc and you'll need to introduce insurance and MOT discs instead. Come to think of it, that wouldn't be a bad idea anyway.

And let's not mess about: no tax, insurance or MOT should mean the car is forfeit and either auctioned or crushed.

[Mark]

You haven't had to produce an MOT certificate for years as that's all in the database now too.

[D-Type]

OK, you may not have to actually produce an MOT certificate but your car still has to pass the MOT - i.e. as a minimum it must have a mechanic cast his eye over it once a year. I know the MOT has limitations but it is better than nothing.

[SGWilko]

The MOT system is all electronic now too. This is how one can tax a car online now - MOT and Insurance databases are checked. This info is also accessed by the Police using their ANPR camera's......

[henners88]

My tax disc serves as a reminder to me to update my tax along with the letter that comes through the door. Not having a tax disc on my car will more than likely mean I will forget as its something I glance at regularly. It saves the paperwork for the DVLA but no doubt the prices will increase slowly.

[SGWilko]

Once the car tax is renewed, I completely forget it's there, and only remember to renew when the brown envelope arrives.

[Mark]

Once the car tax is renewed, I completely forget it's there, and only remember to renew when the brown envelope arrives.

Same, I never look at it. But I do have a vague idea that it's due in the back end of the year, sometime. Mostly I get reminded by the letter through the door, which then sits on the table for ages and then I remember about 3 days before it's due to expire. At least now I can forget until the actual day and not have to worry about getting the disc in the post.

[Dave B]

Even though it's enforced by ANPR these days there are still many many evaders. Why not dispense with all the admin and stick it on petrol? I know nobody likes high fuel prices (even though they'll happily pay £1.49 for a 500ml bottle of Coke while they're topping up), but if you paid via the pump you couldn't evade unless you got handy with a syphon; and it would be truly fair as the more you used you car, or the less efficient your driving, the more you'd pay.

[Mark]

Because it would end up costing me a lot more than the £20 a year I currently pay ;)

[D-Type]

Even though it's enforced by ANPR these days there are still many many evaders. Why not dispense with all the admin and stick it on petrol? I know nobody likes high fuel prices (even though they'll happily pay £1.49 for a 500ml bottle of Coke while they're topping up), but if you paid via the pump you couldn't evade unless you got handy with a syphon; and it would be truly fair as the more you used you car, or the less efficient your driving, the more you'd pay.
It's not that easy to use a syphon nowadays.Most cars have baffles, bends or gauze in the filler pipe to prevent a syphon hose being used. I'm told it is better to get underneath and stick a spike into the bottom of the tank. If you do that to my car, I hope your mate is smoking a cigarette!

[henners88]

Because it would end up costing me a lot more than the £20 a year I currently pay ;)
One of our cars is £30 a year tax and the other £120ish.. It's always nice when the lowest priced one comes up as it just seems like a bonus. Not as good as some people I know with zero tax cars like the Fiesta Eco.

[janneppi]

In Finland we have this great extra diesel tax, it's basically collected to offset the lower price of diesel, For my civic it's a tad over 400 EUR/year.

[Mark]

Strange. Here the tax for petrol and diesel is identical however diesel is always more expensive.

[janneppi]

One of the station I use have these prices today;
95E 1.509 eur/litre
Diesel 1.409 eur/litre

When I was looking at cars the last time I compared a 2.0 diesel Impreza to 2.0 petrol one, At that time petrol Impreza was cheaper to run when driven under 10 000km/year. Today I think it' closer to 13k a year.

My brother has a petrol/ethanol Volvo V70 and he's taxed according the petrol CO emissions despite ethanol emissions are about 1/3 of petrol's. :)

[SGWilko]

Apparently, we don't have the infrastructure (or the inclination to build one) for refining diesel, so most of it is imported. Net result is reflected in the higher cost of diesel at the pumps.

WHat gets my goat - and this is totally off topic but hey - is cars that are de-tuned to meet ever stricter emmissions regulations, are actually less efficient. Look at the DPF cars that clog up the minute you try to max out your mpg by driving 'sensibly'. Surely, the need to perform an 'Italian Tune-Up' once a week is just adding to emissions???

[Mark]

Yes, DPF's are daft and I'm glad mine was one of the last ones to not have it fitted.

Having said that it would be fine with the type of commute I have, as I have a twice daily 20 minutes on the motorway, however if I was commuting within town, where you rarely get above 20mph it would end up being a big problem.

[steveaki13]

I have just ordered my new tax disc online. So is this the last tax disc I will receive I wonder?

[Mark]

Should be; yes! Mine expires 31st October, so I'm not sure if this will be my last or not as they are due to go in October I think.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Yes, DPF's are daft and I'm glad mine was one of the last ones to not have it fitted.

Having said that it would be fine with the type of commute I have, as I have a twice daily 20 minutes on the motorway, however if I was commuting within town, where you rarely get above 20mph it would end up being a big problem.


I recently bought a 1.6 TDI Golf and keep reading horror stories about the DPF. Particularly when my daily commute is 2 X 5miles (A roads 50mph+). Every 2 weeks or so I have a 2 X 80 miles motorway trip so hopefully it won't be an issue.

[GridGirl]

I'm unsure whether it would be good for you to do those journeys with a DPF fitted car JB,B. If I borrow my other half'a Octavia VRs to do my usual city center commute which is a 10 minute drive, 1 mile down hill and about 4miles on a 50mph stretch of motorway it is never happy after only a couple of days use. Runs like complete and utter crap if I'm honest. :( I'm not allowed to borrow it that often. LOL

With no tax discs how am I supposed to okay the game of spot the expired tax disc in car parks? Boooo

[henners88]

Both our cars are diesel and both use 70mph roads on the daily commute. When we bought our Toyota which is a 2.0l it had been owned by someone who just drove it around town and I don't think it had ever stretched its legs. It had done 22,000 miles and now another 20,000 on the car is running fine again. Short slow journeys are never good for diesels with DPF's. The tax on one is £125 I think but the other is £30 so can't complain :)

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I'm unsure whether it would be good for you to do those journeys with a DPF fitted car JB,B. If I borrow my other half'a Octavia VRs to do my usual city center commute which is a 10 minute drive, 1 mile down hill and about 4miles on a 50mph stretch of motorway it is never happy after only a couple of days use. Runs like complete and utter crap if I'm honest. :( I'm not allowed to borrow it that often. LOL

With no tax discs how am I supposed to okay the game of spot the expired tax disc in car parks? Boooo

Okay then. Now I have an excuse to go for a long drive after work. :p

[GridGirl]

Also helps if you have a bit of a lead foot as DPF's dont like you driving like Miss Daisy. ;)

[Brown, Jon Brow]

That's a shame because one of my favourite games is trying to get a new personal best for MPG on any given drive.

[rjbetty]

Also helps if you have a bit of a lead foot as DPF's dont like you driving like Miss Daisy. ;)

I know I'm a noob, but what does DPF mean...?

Hmmm, I've had a real feeling my softly approach is not as liked by my diesel Vectra as my petrol Astra was...

Though it's very good for motorways!

[J4MIE]

I've just ordered a new tax disc. I did spend some time last year without it showing as it had fallen off and hadn't got round to sticking it back up, I was only asked about it once by a traffic warden who had just been about to give me a ticket. Even when I got stopped by the police, I was sitting there preying they wouldn't notice, before they let me on my way ;)

So yes, they are a bit pointless.

[steveaki13]

Also helps if you have a bit of a lead foot as DPF's dont like you driving like Miss Daisy. ;)

I know I'm a noob, but what does DPF mean...?



I must be a noooob as well :p :p

[Brown, Jon Brow]

DPF - Diesel Particulate Filter.

They are fitted to all new diesel cars and filter particles such as soot from the exhaust gases to reduce emissions. The trapped particles then get burned off when the exhaust gases are hot enough, such as on a long journey, but can build up over time and block the filter if you are doing short journeys or town driving.

Since I got my Golf I've done about 800 miles. Over 500 of this have been on decent motorway journeys and the rest has been my short 5 mile commutes to work plus a few 20 miles round trips.

[Mark]

I've just ordered a new tax disc. I did spend some time last year without it showing as it had fallen off and hadn't got round to sticking it back up, I was only asked about it once by a traffic warden who had just been about to give me a ticket. Even when I got stopped by the police, I was sitting there preying they wouldn't notice, before they let me on my way ;)

So yes, they are a bit pointless.

Is it still attached to your windscreen?

[J4MIE]

I've just ordered a new tax disc. I did spend some time last year without it showing as it had fallen off and hadn't got round to sticking it back up, I was only asked about it once by a traffic warden who had just been about to give me a ticket. Even when I got stopped by the police, I was sitting there preying they wouldn't notice, before they let me on my way ;)

So yes, they are a bit pointless.

Is it still attached to your windscreen?

Didn't get around to putting the new one on luckily, sending it back tomorrow!!

[Mark]

Update on this https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes

The requirement to display stops on 1st October 2014.

[MrJan]

So my newly delivered tax disc will be my last?

If I still had a petrol then this would be an issue for me as I'd need to remember when it was coming up to replacement time. As the price for my old MR2 was well over £200 I would usually ahve to bear it in mind a month or two before hand (always like to get 12months) so that I would have the money. Easiest way of doing that was to periodically check the disc. With the new electronic system you just get the reminder landing on your doormat 4 weeks before it's due.

Luckily my new company insist on being under 120 CO2, so tax is only £30 for the year!!