#Nomoretaxdisc #Notmanyknow

Here’s a story from the UK that might impact on a lot of UK registered cars currently being used in Spain.

According to research consumer website money.co.uk nearly half of all UK drivers are completely unaware that car tax discs are to be abolished from October.

The death of the infuriating paper tax disc comes about after 93 years on UK windscreens. All UK registered cars will still need to be taxed for use on the road. The penalty for drivers who do not have a valid tax disc will come in at an eye watering 1,256 euros when the new set up comes into law a mere six weeks from now.

Of those drivers polled, who are aware that the tax disc system is changing, 50 per cent do not know the exact date when it starts, 6 per cent believe it happens at some vague time in the future, 7 per cent do not know a thing about what the changes will be, whilst 32 per cent have stuck their heads in the sand and are not planning to do anything to find out what changes lie ahead.

Tax discs will no longer be transferable when owners sell on their vehicles. Those selling a car will now be able to receive a refund for any full months of road tax remaining, while those buying a car will have to get new road tax for the vehicle before driving it away. Naturally, if the seller does not inform DVLA of the change of ownership the threat of substantial fines arises.

As drivers in Spain with UK registered cars know, you are permitted to drive a UK vehicle that is taxed, MOT’d and Insured for six months in Spain, thereafter you either register it as Spanish or take it back home for MOT, insurance and tax renewal. Many UK registered cars are spotted on a daily basis driving around Spain without the obligatory tax disc, whilst some may feel the new rule of no tax disc on display will ease their way with the local traffic police, they should be aware that if they haven’t got a statuary off road notice (SORN) they will be liable for all the taxes they didn’t pay if and when they return the vehicle to the UK.  

The days of displaying a Guinness beermat in place of a tax disc are long gone.

The DVLA proving that Government quangos should never try to explore their funny side online have produced the most excruciatingly awful public information film telling the tale of a driver breaking up with a giant tax disc. You couldn’t make it up.