Tax-exempt your classic
A new tax year is rarely cause for celebration, but this is when your car becomes tax- and MoT-exempt if was built in 1980. Here are some of the eligible cars – and how you can register
CCW’s step-by-step guide
As of this Friday (1 April), any car manufactured in 1980 is eligible to be re-classed as a Vehicle of Historic Interest ( VHI) in order to be exempt from paying tax and taking an annual MoT – saving its owner up to £270 in Vehicle Excise Duty ( VED) every year.
We’ve seen significant changes in how the government deals with classic cars in recent years, starting with pre-1960 MoT exemption in 2012 – which, in hindsight, looks to have been a small-scale trial for what was to come later. The rolling VED exemption was re-introduced in 2015 but this time at 40 years old. The old 25-yearold exemption had been frozen in 1997 as cars’ longevity improved (though this was much closer to the 30-year exemption most EU countries have had for many years). MoT exemption was finally extended to all cars 40 years old and over in 2018, again on a rolling basis – so cars from 1981 will benefit from tax and MoT exemption as of next April.
However, it is not a full exemption in that owners of 40-year-old vehicles can’t just forget about their car’s tax and MoT status – you must still technically ‘tax’ your car each year, though at no cost, and at the same time, you’re asked to confirm that your car is MoT exempt each year.
HOW IT’S DONE
You must apply for these exemptions when your car first becomes eligible. You still have to visit a post office in person for now – unfortunately the process hasn’t been fully digitised yet – though you can download the V112 form, which you will need if you are looking to apply for MoT exemption. Any post office that deals with vehicle tax will do – just take your V5 log book, your V11 tax reminder (if you have one) and the V112 (or a valid MoT certificate if you don’t want MoT exemption).
The DVLA will then send you an updated V5 logbook within a couple of weeks, though delays have been common since the pandemic started – ask the person dealing with you at the Post Office for the most up-to-date information on waiting times. You should be refunded for any remaining months of VED you had paid for pretty much as soon as your new logbook arrives – the DVLA advises getting in contact with them if you haven’t seen your refund within six weeks of the new logbook arriving.
You are allowed to use your car while your application for VHI status processes, but your car must have valid tax the entire time – even if your tax expires just before you apply, you should still pay the tax and wait for the majority of it to be refunded once your application is successful or declare it SORN and keep it off of the road until then. The government is less clear on MoT status during this intermediary period but our advice is again to have a valid MoT while the application is being processed or put it on SORN.
IS MY CAR ELIGIBLE?
Let’s be clear – we’re talking about Private Light Goods class vehicles here – heavier commercial/military fare is on a different rule book for both tax and MoT exemption, though they do overlap in many places.
It’s also important to note that your car must have been built – not registered – before 1981 for both tax and MoT exemption. Many cars are registered months or even years after they were built, ( before you even start considering private plates and imports) so if your car may still be due exemption this year if it has a 1981, or even 1982, registration mark.
First you should check the DVLA’s online database via the MoT status checker which lists a year of manufacture. It isn’t the most reliable source – the DVLA has been known to fill gaps in its database here by simply taking the year of first registration to be the build year – but it isn’t uncommon to find cars that the DVLA already has on record as being built a year before they were registered – this is by far the simplest scenario.
Beyond this, it takes a bit more work in proving things to the DVLA, but a much more reliable source is a build/order sheet from when the car was first sold (if you have it) or the car’s chassis plate. If neither you nor the DVLA have any idea when your car was built, a first registration date of before 8 January 1981 will qualify you this year.
While tax exemption is granted without condition to cars over 40 years old, MoT exemption has one main exclusion – your car must not have been substantially modified in the past 30 years. This means that the chassis (or monocoque bodyshell), axles or engine must not have been altered significantly.
Original specification replacements are allowed, however, as are parts that were fitted to different specifications of the same model of car – so fitting your Mini 1000 with a 1275cc A-series engine does not automatically exclude it from MoT exemption, for example.
Furthermore, changes that are made to preserve a vehicle where replacement parts are no longer available or are done to improve safety and environmental performance are also allowed. Anything warranting a ‘Q’ plate, or a kit car, also counts as substantially modified – though it will be eligible if you can prove that the transformative work was done more than 30 years ago.