A recent change in legislation means motorists now have 14 days to display a valid tax disc before they become liable for a fine.
The DVLA always sends a postal reminder, but there may be a few reasons why, for a week or two each year, your car might be without its tax disc.
If your MOT expires shortly before the renewal date for car tax, that can cause delay. Even if the disc arrives on your doorstep in time, it is all too easy to simply forget to fix the paper disc to your windscreen. Either way, you risk a £60 for not displaying a valid tax disc, even if you have paid.
Remember, this extended period of grace simply allows more time to display the disc – you still need to have paid the VED (vehicle excise duty) by the time the previous disc expires. The only alternative is to take the vehicle off the road and complete a SORN (statutory off road notification).
Why do we still use paper tax discs?
The days of the paper tax disc could be numbered.Instantaneous access to vehicle records by police car and roadside-mounted automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras have rendered them all but redundant.
A government consultation by the Department for Transport last year suggested replacing the discs with a digital registration scheme in order to streamline services and reduce costs.
How much car tax will you pay in 2014?
To work out how much vehicle excise duty (commonly referred to as car tax or road tax) you will pay for your car from 1 April 2013, you need to know how much CO2 it emits.
You can find this on your vehicle’s V5C registration certificate (log book) or new keeper details section (V5C/2).
Rates of vehicle tax for petrol and diesel cars registered after, 1 March 2001
| Band | CO2 emissions | 2013-14 | 2013-14 6 months | 2013-14 first year rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | up to 100g/km | £0 | not available | £0 |
| B | 101-110g/km | £20 | not available | £0 |
| C | 111-120g/km | £30 | not available | £0 |
| D | 121-130g/km | £105 | £57.75 | £0 |
| E | 131-140g/km | £125 | £68.75 | £125 (12 months) |
| F | 141-150g/km | £140 | £77.00 | £140 (12 months) |
| G | 151-160g/km | £175 | £96.25 | £175 (12 months) |
| H | 161-170g/km | £200 | £110.00 | £285 (12 months) |
| I | 171-180g/km | £220 | £121.00 | £335 (12 months) |
| J | 181-200g/km | £260 | £143.00 | £475 (12 months) |
| K** | 201-225g/km | £280 | £154.00 | £620 (12 months) |
| L | 226-255g/km | £475 | £261.25 | £840 (12 months) |
| M | over 255g/km | £490 | £269.50 | £1,065(12 months) |
* First Year Rates – From 1 April 2010, anyone buying a new car will pay a different rate of vehicle tax for the first tax disc. Thereafter, the standard rate of vehicle tax will apply.
** Band K includes cars that have a CO2 emission figure over 225g/km but were registered before 23 March 2006.
Toby Harling
Another wasteful system of collecting money. The attempt to tax people according to how efficient their vehicle is fails because it doesn’t take account of how often they drive it and how far. If vehicles should be taxed according to their emissions it should be on total emissions, not emissions per kilometre. Hence scrap the tax disc, put all the duty on to fuel instead and have an insurance disc to display in the window. Road tax is unnecessary.