Warning to drivers to make sure they get tax

2,200 drivers in Cardiff had their vehicles clamped last year for non-payment of tax.

Tax dodgers have been warned their cars will be taken off the road and away if they are not properly taxed.

A new crackdown announced today comes on the back of figures showing thousands were clamped across the region for non-payment of taxes last year alone.

Nationally across Wales, 3,800 untaxed vehicles were clamped with 2,200 of those in Cardiff. The latest crackdown will see the vehicles removed altogether.

The traditional paper tax disc was scrapped two years ago, forcing the authorities to rely on computerised DVLA records, with enforcement also carried out by automatic number plate recognition. The new system also ended the practice of allowing unspent car tax to transfer across to a new owner.

Now, each new owner must re-tax a car when they buy it. This extra step has added to the much higher levels of tax evasion. Some estimates have put the amount lost to the DVLA at £93m in the year ending March 2016. Revenues from excise duty fell from £6.023bn to £5.93bn.

DVLA bosses say a new national advertising campaign launching today using a hand-painted, clamped car designed to look transparent, gives a clear message to tax dodgers – “even if you think you’re invisible to DVLA, you’re not – tax your car or risk losing it”.

While 98% of vehicles on UK roads are taxed correctly, the DVLA is currently clamping or impounding around 10,000 untaxed cars every month.

DVLA holds the records of more than 37 million vehicles in the country.

Oliver Morley, DVLA chief executive, added: “This campaign targets those who break the law by not taxing their car.

“While the overwhelming majority of vehicles on the road are licensed correctly, it is only right that we take action against those people who think they can get away with it. The law is clear and so are the consequences – if you don’t tax your car, you risk losing it.”