DEALER FIGHTS GOVT ON ROAD TAX RIP-OFFS
Classic specialist launches petition to stop you paying twice for Vehicle Excise Duty – we show you how to lend your support
Aclassic dealer has launched a campaign to scrap a system that allows the Government to collect Vehicle Excise Duty ( VED) twice for the same car at the point of sale. Peter Lewis, of Cheshire Classic Benz, said that he had launched the petition on the Parliament website to try and reverse the non-transferable system that was introduced in 2014. Previously, owners could transfer unused VED, but currently
owners are not refunded outstanding tax on vehicles sold part-way through the month. Peter has six months to collect 10,000 signatures.
He said: ‘Since tax discs were abolished the DVLA has cancelled the road tax on cars which are sold part way through a month, with no recompense to the vendor. This means that it takes double road tax – it is blatant profiteering.’
Aclassic car dealer has set up a petition calling for a system that charges owners twice for Vehicle Excise Duty when their cars are sold to be scrapped.
Cheshire Classic Benz director, Peter Lewis, said that classics and other vehicles were effectively being charged twice when ownership is transferred – something he describes as ‘blatant profiteering’. He said: ‘Since tax discs were abolished, the DVLA has cancelled the road tax on cars which are sold part way through a month, with no recompense to the vendor.
‘They have also forced the new owner to pay tax on the car from the start of that month. This means that they take double road tax for the month in which the ownership changes.’
Under the previous system, which used paper tax discs, the owner of a classic could simply transfer the disc – and any unpaid tax – over to the car’s new owner when a car was sold on.
However, this system was replaced by a paperless system in October 2014, meaning that a car’s new owner has to pay Vehicle Excise Duty at the point of purchase. Entire months of Vehicle Excise Duty are refunded back to the new owner but the remainder of the month when a vehicle is sold is not, meaning that this portion of the duty has effectively been paid twice, with the Government in total collecting an estimated additional £40m annually.
HM Treasury, which takes the revenue that the DVLA collects, did not respond to CCW’s requests for comment but has previously declined to change the arrangement for ‘administrative reasons’.
A spokesperson said: ‘If VED did not need to start on the first of the month, or refunds were made for partial months, this would mean the UK’s 30m licences could expire on any of the 365 days of the year.
‘This would lead to a substantial increase in administration, resources and IT system changes resulting in considerable costs, which would ultimately have to be passed on to the taxpayer.’
The Taxpayers’ Alliance supports Mr Lewis’ move, and said that the current system is unfair and should be changed.
Grassroots campaign manager, Harry Fone, said: ‘As someone who has purchased many classic BMWs, I can categorically say that the old tax disc system was far better.
‘It is absurd that even with one day left in a month that a buyer has to pay car tax, or VED to be precise, for the whole month. All the while the DVLA has already pocketed another full month’s duty from the seller.
‘The system is unfair and seems purely designed to extract more money from already over-taxed motorists, particularly when it comes to fuel duty.
‘The government should stop treating car owners as cash cows, and lower VED.’