FFS

[Mash]

I've just tried to tax my Mazda 323. Can't do it on line because the date came up as starting 1st Feb so I went to the post office.HER: "Is it taxed at the moment?"ME: "No it's on SORN"HER: "Your new tax disc will start from the 1st February then"ME: "Eh? Why do I have to pay for a month when wasn't using it"HER: "Because it's on SORN - it's not a continuous licence."ME: "But I want it to go from the 1st March"HER: "You won't be able to drive it before then"ME: "I dont want to"HER: "I'm afraid you'll have to come back on the 27th Feb, that's the earliest I can do it":roll: Basically it's implied that I'm going to get a couple of free days out of them. Fuggin red tape. Always law abiding people that have to bear the brunt of the twunts that flout the rules Rant over.

[Spottedlaurel]

I think the business about not being able to tax a car until the last two days of the month (if it hasn't got a current disc) has been around for some time.Whatever, good to hear that the 323 will be in use very soon

[Mash]

Aye maybe you're right. Just a bit annoyed because I thought I'd miss the last minute rush and I also had the gross misfortune to be ferried there in the back of a wanky new Corsa

[Guest]

I had the same thing four years ago with my Escort, except they did actually give me the disc although strongly reminded me not to use the car. (which I completely ignored on the basis that I'd lost a few days' worth when cashing the tax in the previous year)Would it be any different if you were to relicense it online, or can't you do that when coming off a SORN?

[Guest]

I absolutely detest the tax disc system, I can't think of many things which are more deliberately awkward and convoluted. Above all I hate going to the post office for it - I can't get it from any convenient/good ones, it has to be the main one which is full of unwashed shitbags and you can be queueing for a good part of an hour (very often the queue extends outside), at that point your application is assessed by someone who picks over all your documents like they're trying to find an excuse to refuse it, one time the woman pondered for a long time whether she should give me a tax disc on the basis that my name was "Dan" on one document and "Daniel" on another.And don't get me started on SORN.

[michiel]

How organised are we over here... buy a car, taxman sends you a letter quite soonish after that, stating the amount and would you like to pay yourself every month/trimester/year or shall we take it from your account automatically? SORN-business and registration when buying from a private person/small dealer has to be done at the post office, which are actually closing down at great speed... to be replaced by counters in ordinary shops manned by people who know more about selling cigarettes or dirty mags, curious how that's going to work out.

[nigel bickle]

Didnt know you could get a disc,for an untaxed car,early.Thought you had to wait till 1st.Live & learn

[CortinaDave]

I get annoyed at at as well... The online service won't let you get tax UNTIL the 1st of the following month, it just automatically comes up with the 1st of the previous month.So basically you have to tax it on the 1st online, then lose a few days waiting for it to turn up. Why not let you tax it from say the 15th, but only post out the disc a few days before, meaning you have it in time for the start of the month???The tax system is annoying though, my insurance co won't email you a cover note, it has to be posted so if you buy a car with no rent you have to run about in it taxless until the covernote comes through, risking the wrath of the plod through no fault of your own.

[254575]

The tax system is annoying though, my insurance co won't email you a cover note, it has to be posted so if you buy a car with no rent you have to run about in it taxless until the covernote comes through, risking the wrath of the plod through no fault of your own.

this is what gets me. it seems like its a ploy to stop you buying second hand cars.... i wonder...

[Guest]

So basically you have to tax it on the 1st online, then lose a few days waiting for it to turn up. Why not let you tax it from say the 15th, but only post out the disc a few days before, meaning you have it in time for the start of the month???

Or they could even have "from" and "to" dates on the disc and just send it out whenever.

[CortinaDave]

That would clearly be too sensible!

[FredTransit]

You think that's bad, imagine the sulkfest that insues when trying to tax an MOT and tax exempt recovery truck! You can't do it online either, the 'does it have an MOT' question is a yes/no answer only, and if it's over 3 years old and has no MOT, you get kicked off!

[retrogeezer]

With the amount of money it must currently cost to administer I really don't understand why the fairer way if sticking it on fuel isn't used.I've had the escort for nearly 2 months and I've used it 3 times...so thats £10 for the privilege of each time I've been out.

[Guest]

The thing that really boiled my piss is that the PO don't accept credit cards for payment.Tried to tax the Piazza a while back and got quite a shock.

[Volksy]

With the amount of money it must currently cost to administer I really don't understand why the fairer way if sticking it on fuel isn't used.I've had the escort for nearly 2 months and I've used it 3 times...so thats £10 for the privilege of each time I've been out.

Totally agree, with the technology the law enforcement company Ltd.. oops sorry Police and DVLA.. have with APNR being able to detect that a vehicle has no Insurance or MOT, then it somewhat renders the tax disc next to useless. This was, at the end of the day, an instant visual clue to the passing plod of olden days to issue a 'producer' for the subsiquent documents. So add tax to the fuel duty, and then you cut costs overall, but then i guess there wont be as many jobs for the 'Jobsworths' of the world.. Sure that must be a stipulation on the DVLA app form..

[shite_meister]

Once I was given 12 months for the price of 6, the lady who served me must have shit herself coz she knocked on my door that evening about 7pm with a 6 month disc asking for the other one back.Of course now I'm in Jersey I don't have that annual/bi-annual ball-ache of renewing the road tax or MOT-there is now way in the world I could keep seven motors if I had to tax and MOT them.

[AXrescuer]

With the amount of money it must currently cost to administer I really don't understand why the fairer way if sticking it on fuel isn't used.

A: It's too obviously a fairer way to tax peopleB: They pondered the idea but decided that overall, people who rarely used their cars wouldn't be financially discouraged from using their cars and hence could be deemed as environmentally unfriendly! Utter madness.

[lovejoy]

Now this is all VERY interesting, as I was in a similar predicament last September, down in Cornwall(aka "The We*t Country, - note spelling Mr pogweasel !)I wanted to tax my car for a week. yes, a week.The vehicle was SORNed at the time, but is kept at mother's house for use when i visit, and I was leaving UK at end of month, so, visit local friendly Post Office, with relevant paperwork, £120 payment etc, on 24th of the month, and said postmistress hands me a shiny new blue tax disc beginning OCT 1.I hand it back, saying "No!" I want to use it for the last week in Sept, i.e. NOW. She says, "Oh, you will have to bring in the V5c to do that, not the Sorn document......does that prove a point - that you CAN re-tax afore the last 2 days, or where Mr.Pickle lives, in wildest Yapton (!) before the 1st. I rest my case. (and my head). and yes, the car was Sorned on Oct 1 again.....

[trigger]

Just got a leaflet through the post this morning from the DVLA with some new rules about tax.

 

Not taxed your vehicle or made a statutory off road notification (SORN) Yet?

 

From 1st September 2008, if you pay for your vehicle tax by phone or online before the current tax disc runs out, then you can legally drive or keep your vechicle on the road whilst displaying the tax disc that has run out, for up to five working days. (Giving time for your new tax disc to arrive by 1st class post).

 

So that's a start i guess.

[Guest]

With the amount of money it must currently cost to administer I really don't understand why the fairer way if sticking it on fuel isn't used.I've had the escort for nearly 2 months and I've used it 3 times...so thats £10 for the privilege of each time I've been out.

Totally agree, with the technology the law enforcement company Ltd.. oops sorry Police and DVLA.. have with APNR being able to detect that a vehicle has no Insurance or MOT, then it somewhat renders the tax disc next to useless. This was, at the end of the day, an instant visual clue to the passing plod of olden days to issue a 'producer' for the subsiquent documents. So add tax to the fuel duty, and then you cut costs overall, but then i guess there wont be as many jobs for the 'Jobsworths' of the world.. Sure that must be a stipulation on the DVLA app form..

One argument for retaining a vehicle licence - even if it was only a token amount - is to give the authorities a reasonable idea of how many vehicles are actually in theoretical use. Lets say thats 30 million vehicles at present, which will be a fraction of the total number on Swansea's database of which x million will be SORN and y million will be unlicensed.I dont buy the extra tax on fuel argument tho, it might be fairer but just imagine the sh*t thats gonna go down when the hauliers find out that diesels gonna be 150p a litre.

[retrogeezer]

I dont buy the extra tax on fuel argument tho, it might be fairer but just imagine the sh*t thats gonna go down when the hauliers find out that diesels gonna be 150p a litre.

Valid point but then they should pay more as their HGV's are the vehicles that cause most of the damage to the UK's roads....and don't get me started on all the foreign trucks driving about here that pay fook all to do so.As for car tax, I wouldn't mind if I could see some of it being spent maintaining the roads but I spend half my driving time looking for cameras and the other half looking for the huge potholes that just get left unrepaired.

[Ratdat]

I dont buy the extra tax on fuel argument tho, it might be fairer but just imagine the sh*t thats gonna go down when the hauliers find out that diesels gonna be 150p a litre.

I doubt it'd add too much to a litre. Road tax is a relatively small amount compared to annual fuel costs. HGV's account for a large proportion of wear and tear on the roads as well as having higher emmisions so logically they would be paying more, much as they do now with road tax which is up to £1800 for them I think. Applying the road tax cost to fuel instead would mean that foriegn cars and trucks coming into the UK would also pay it which they don't now.I suspect one of the reasons for not doing it is that at present they have two different taxes which makes it easier to hikes the rates without people whinging too much. Put both of those taxes into fuel and each time the VED and fuel duty goes up you'd see a considerable increase which the voters wouldn't like.Me? I couldn't give a shit either way. I pay my VED, I buy my fuel. Life too short to worry about it.

[Guest]

I actually don't mind paying road tax and think some people get too bothered about it, the pre-2001 rates are pretty reasonable, if you didn't have to pay for at least 6 months in one go, you'd probably not even notice it.I just find the actual tax disc system incredibly unflexible - it'd be great if you could get tax for whatever period was required, all online, goes straight on the database with no paper disc needed, etc. The technology is all there, that's the frustrating thing.Should be like: right I want a tax disc - on the tax disc site now - I'll buy 90 days worth from today - P155 FLP - card details gone through - yes I would like to set up a Direct Debit afterwards - no I don't want a Seat Ibiza - right I'm off for a drive!

[FredTransit]

I dont buy the extra tax on fuel argument tho, it might be fairer but just imagine the sh*t thats gonna go down when the hauliers find out that diesels gonna be 150p a litre.

Valid point but then they should pay more as their HGV's are the vehicles that cause most of the damage to the UK's roads....and don't get me started on all the foreign trucks driving about here that pay fook all to do so.As for car tax, I wouldn't mind if I could see some of it being spent maintaining the roads but I spend half my driving time looking for cameras and the other half looking for the huge potholes that just get left unrepaired.

Here's a few points1, have you seen the price of diesel lately? It's nowhere near as cheap as it was some years ago, thank god it's gone down a bit. yes it is a commercial fuel, but cars use it too, are you saying there should be two separate pumps? One high priced for the nasty damaging trucks and one cheap for Mr and Mrs smith to fill the volvo from? 2, HGV road tax is already high, I am sure nobody here would look forward to paying over a grand in road tax! Aside from that there are other costs, like Operator's Licence, before the truck turns a wheel.3, if you got it, a truck brought it. Do you think hauliers would cheerfully pay a LOT for diesel and not pass it on to the customers? IE, if they make deliveries to shops, it will cost more. Fuel is the biggest expense in the transport industry. This country runs on road transport, whether you like it or not, even the petrol comes by truck!I do agree though the road tax doen't seem to be used for maintaining the roads.

[Guest]

I dont buy the extra tax on fuel argument tho, it might be fairer but just imagine the sh*t thats gonna go down when the hauliers find out that diesels gonna be 150p a litre.

Valid point but then they should pay more as their HGV's are the vehicles that cause most of the damage to the UK's roads....and don't get me started on all the foreign trucks driving about here that pay fook all to do so.As for car tax, I wouldn't mind if I could see some of it being spent maintaining the roads but I spend half my driving time looking for cameras and the other half looking for the huge potholes that just get left unrepaired.

Here's a few points1, have you seen the price of diesel lately? It's nowhere near as cheap as it was some years ago, thank god it's gone down a bit. yes it is a commercial fuel, but cars use it too, are you saying there should be two separate pumps? One high priced for the nasty damaging trucks and one cheap for Mr and Mrs smith to fill the volvo from?

Side effects of higher fuel prices:More running on red dieselHigher demand for cooking oil etc indirectly causing food price rises and hogging agricultural land blah de blah de blahIncreased fuel theftOver here we have "road tax on fuel" and even then some filling stations are down to the low 70s pence per litre at the mo, its gonna be bloody difficult for the authorities to bring that up to be a bit more equal to UK levels, which I think they should do as the roads are far too busy with people who otherwise wouldn't be running a car, but thats another debate...

[FredTransit]

Cooking oil isn't that much cheaper than diesel here, unless it used and free. As for the cherry, in London there are quite a few checkpoints so it's just not worth the bother.

[Volksy]

I do agree though the road tax doen't seem to be used for maintaining the roads.

Aye thats because it's not. The Gov decided a few years back to quietly change the name from 'Road Fund Licence' to 'Vehicle Excise Duty' so they then didn't have to spend it just on the roads..

[retrogeezer]

1, have you seen the price of diesel lately? It's nowhere near as cheap as it was some years ago, thank god it's gone down a bit. yes it is a commercial fuel, but cars use it too, are you saying there should be two separate pumps? One high priced for the nasty damaging trucks and one cheap for Mr and Mrs smith to fill the volvo from?

Nope...not saying that at all.

2, HGV road tax is already high, I am sure nobody here would look forward to paying over a grand in road tax! Aside from that there are other costs, like Operator's Licence, before the truck turns a wheel.

If the tax went onto fuel then the HGV road tax could be scrapped too, UK based hauliers could then get subsidized fuel like the farmers/aircraft etc do.This subsidy could then be paid for by charging the foreign trucks to use our roads. The way it is at the moment, the foreign trucks fill up in France, drive all over the country and then go back, they contribute nothing at all to our economy but do a lot to damage to our roads.

3, if you got it, a truck brought it. Do you think hauliers would cheerfully pay a LOT for diesel and not pass it on to the customers? IE, if they make deliveries to shops, it will cost more. Fuel is the biggest expense in the transport industry. This country runs on road transport, whether you like it or not, even the petrol comes by truck!

Yep, despite our government constantly bleating on about the damage exhaust gases do to the environment they do nothing to ease congestion on our roads therefore making the problem worse. Get the canal system operating again I say!!In any case, I'm not sure why you thought I was targeting haulage companies anyway...other than the damage trucks do to the roads. Plenty of reps do thousands of miles a year and pay the same road tax I do for doing 500 miles. That was the kind of point I was trying to make.It wouldn't be so bad if they had left the 25 year rolling car tax exemption in place but they soon put a stop to that too.All just my humble opinion.....not arguing or anything, easy to read stuff differently to how it was thought when typed.

[Guest]

2, HGV road tax is already high, I am sure nobody here would look forward to paying over a grand in road tax! Aside from that there are other costs, like Operator's Licence, before the truck turns a wheel.

If the tax went onto fuel then the HGV road tax could be scrapped too, UK based hauliers could then get subsidized fuel like the farmers/aircraft etc do.This subsidy could then be paid for by charging the foreign trucks to use our roads.

Not a chance! EU legislation, level playing field and all that. You'd have to charge ALL trucks to use British roads not just foreign ones - I thought a nationwide HGV road pricing scheme was under development but it appears to have been shelved for time being.PS. I dont think RFL/VED has been 'ring-fenced' for many years... in fact the link between road tax and highway maintenance/construction was probably broken as far back as the 1930s. Would be interesting to find out how building the motorway network was funded!

[Guest]

Plenty of reps do thousands of miles a year and pay the same road tax I do for doing 500 miles. That was the kind of point I was trying to make.

I can agree with that to an extent, but my job moved without my choice from being a 3-4 mile round trip to a 25-30 mile one. I already have to pay more in car insurance and fuel has gone from being "bosh a tenner in every fortnight" to "brim the tank every week and a bit". I've been trying to find more local work for over a year but it has not been forthcoming, sticking my road tax up on top of that would be a tad unhelpful.The solution to less road use is to make it so journeys are not required - home working, less out-of-town retail centres, small factories/warehouses/offices dotted around the country instead of a few huge national ones, etc.In short, don't blame the rep for doing 20K a year, he probably doesn't want to! Figure out a way so he doesn't have to.