From October 2014 motorists will no longer have to display their road tax disc in the windscreen of their vehicles. Motorists will still be paying Vehicle Excise Duty but the Treasury claims there will also be savings of £20m for Britain’s hard-pressed motorists as a result of changes to the way car tax can be paid.
The number of windscreens checked for tax discs by officers has dropped 75 per cent in the last five years, thanks to the electronic vehicle register that is used by both traffic police and the DVLA. A police source said: ‘the tax disc is no longer needed for enforcement purposes; the police use number plate recognition equipment. If they pull you over they can immediately tap into this database and see whether the car is taxed and insured and what the driver ought to look like.’ Officials said that both the police and the Post Office have ‘indicated their support’ for the abolition of the tax disc. But it is thought that some sub-postmasters could suffer as they rely on customers renewing their car tax. The online process is already in action so drivers can renew online.
Road tax is calculated based on the carbon emissions of the vehicle with 13 different bands with annual duties ranging from £0 to £490 – and even up to £1,065 for ‘gas guzzlers’ in their first year on the road.
One plus for motorists will be the choice of paying the vehicle excise duty by monthly direct debit. It is always a bill that has had to be paid in full and on time – so for many, this will be a welcome addition. It will also be cheaper to pay for a six month period: because of a 10 per cent surcharge it can currently cost £55 for a half-year disc or £100 for a year. Under the reforms, the charge will be reduced from 10 to 5 per cent, reducing an identical six-month period to £52.50. Paying monthly will also attract a five per cent rather than a 10 per cent charge.