Have you ever forgot to pay your car tax?

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tmstms@reddit

Well....they DO send physical reminder so either you have to be away, not open your post, or have the car registered to the wrong address. The reminder includes a code that you can input to make it easier to do the renewal (in the old old days that was the form you took to the post office). That's why people think it is difficult to forget. 'They' know because it's on a database.

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Important_Past_7238@reddit

Ze hoeven geen herinneringsbrief te sturen en dat doen ze ook niet.

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Saw_Boss@reddit

Being on a database doesn't matter. My wife hadn't paid hers for 3 months with zero consequence.

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Critical-Bonus-6411@reddit

Our neighbours had their car clamped outside their house. There are fixed ANPR cameras everywhere they know your driving it. Its only a matter of time.

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Saw_Boss@reddit

Sure, but my point was more that they don't simply look at who hasn't paid and issue a fine immediately.

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EconomyFreakDust@reddit

They do if you're hit by an ANPR camera that can send out fines for no road tax. Most ANPR cameras do not do this, they all serve different purposes.

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EconomyFreakDust@reddit

Not all ANPR cameras do the same thing. You specifically need to be pinged by one that can detect tax status and fine it.

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bobdebilda@reddit

Yet...

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Saw_Boss@reddit

I'd be pissed if she were fined now 6 months after having paid it.

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DaveBeBad@reddit

They don’t always send out physical reminders any more - from August 2nd drivers can choose to get electronic reminders. But my parents and their neighbours didn’t, so they might be opting some people out either accidentally or deliberately.

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tmstms@reddit

I have a car which is taxed at zero, but one still has to renew it. I've relied on having the physical reminders to go online to input the code pay £0 (Which I presumbly can't do by DD) but electronic reminders would be fine too.

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-TheHumorousOne-@reddit

Is this same for electric cars? Surely they should be exempt, can't really see anyone deciding to add a combustion engine inside their electric for a laugh

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tmstms@reddit

They are zero-rated, IIRC, but one function of the 'road tax' or whatever one wants to call it is so DVLA know what is supposed to be on the road....so I imagine they hve to register yearly also.

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blackthornjohn@reddit

Yes, I have a three tax exempt vehicles and get reminders for all 3 every year and have to ring up or do it on line because as you say, they're either sorn or on the road.

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geoffmendoza@reddit

They do. Zero rated vehicles still have to do the annual renewal.

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DaveBeBad@reddit

Tbf, sending out tax reminders for ~30 million cars will cost DVLA a decent wedge every year - probably a big saving to be made.

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Onecaronly@reddit

Another very realistic possibility is “your wife put your reminder letter somewhere and didn’t tell you about it” Fortunately they do then send a red letter, which hopefully she will not also put somewhere and not tell you, but I have quite a lot of sympathy with people who don’t get all their post.

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patchmau5@reddit (OP)

I honestly didn’t get a reminder letter, nor did I get any kind of red letter. But I appreciate it’s still my responsibility to tax my car. It’s the first time I’ve ever not done it, so I had to laugh at myself for being thick enough not to when my car tax, insurance, MOT, breakdown all need to be renewed at the same time. Had a lot on, simply forgot. Would like to know where that letter ended up but I’m sure they won’t take that as an excuse.

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SpudFire@reddit

I didn't get the reminder letter this year. I live alone so there was no chance somebody else in the house opened it or moved it somewhere safe. I got one telling me I was overdue the follow month (ran out 31st July, got it in August). I was able to go on the tax site, put in the code and go through it like normal with no penalty and it was backdated to July. Ultimately it was my fault for relying on the reminder letter. I've added it to my google calendar now so I'll get a notification in July next year.

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charlie_boo@reddit

Yeah I forgot to change my address on the V5 when I moved and didn't get the reminder, so got a debt collection letter eventually. Fully deserved it so paid the debt and taxed the car. Now I have it on direct debit so I can't forget.

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Vixen5692@reddit

How much was the debt that you had to pay? I did the same, didn't change my address as I thought changing my address for my driving licence was sufficient (it isn't). Just realised my car has been untaxed for 4 months and I'm dreading any debt collector letters coming through!

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charlie_boo@reddit

A bit more than it would have cost to tax the car, but not ridiculously more. Can’t remember exactly but remember thinking I got off lightly.

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redrighthand_@reddit

As someone who pays £0 it’s somewhat annoying to be still eligible for a fine if you do it late

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RustyRumRag@reddit

haha how’s that £0 working out for you? bet ur filled with excitement for your £425 EV bill coming into place this year :)

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redrighthand_@reddit

I don’t have an EV.

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Missy246@reddit

Same!

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Non-Combatant@reddit

You're applying for a permit or licence to use it on the road, the cost is irrelevant in that regard.

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redrighthand_@reddit

True but it’s hardly a process where the application is reviewed or scrutinised. It’s done with immediate effect at the cost of zero which leaves it rather redundant.

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Non-Combatant@reddit

What is there to review or scrutinise? The DVLA already has the details of both car and keeper, all they need is a tick in the box that says you're either still using it on the road or you must SORN it. It's your job to let them know if it is still on the road or not.

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redrighthand_@reddit

Therefore an opt out system when you don’t pay anything would be easier but I won’t hold my breath

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Non-Combatant@reddit

It's easier and more logical to make one system for everyone. And from 2025 everyone is expected to pay VED even if you drive a zero emission EV you will no longer be exempt.

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redrighthand_@reddit

Genuine question- I don’t drive a EV but is there a structure for the cost post 2025?

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Non-Combatant@reddit

Yes indeed, they'll be brought into band B taxation alongside motorbikes and other ICE vehicles. Which I think is currently £10/£20 per year They will also no longer be exempt from the "luxury car tax" which is payable to vehicles worth over 40 grand for their first few years on the road. If my understanding of this is correct, I am a little hungover. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025

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EconomyFreakDust@reddit

It's not redundant as it allows the DVLA to know whether the car is on the roads or not. You can still SORN an EV.

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Fun-Fly-8325@reddit

As well as not being able to set up a direct debit!

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PlasticUniversity572@reddit

I forgot to pay for 2 years probably since I left the UK in 2023. I have just paid the 2025-2026 year online, but there is no option to check or pay for the other years. How to do that then?

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jesussays51@reddit

I once got a ticket on the windscreen saying I didn’t have tax. I thought this was odd as I had it set up for DD and it had come out the 2 previous years. I checked my bank and surprisingly no DD had come out the month before. I hadn’t had a letter or email chaser which seemed odd as well. When I rang the DVLA it turns out the car was still registered to the old owner and you can’t set a dd up for someone else’s car. I explained that it had worked before and he was nice enough to remove the fine if I paid for the tax. Obviously this was my fault as an idiot who never noticed I didn’t receive the V5 in post 3 years before. I then had to go through a long process of getting it moved to my name.

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squigs@reddit

My partner did. Then she was in hospital. I noticed the letter sitting there saying it should have been paid a couple of weeks ago and decided I really ought to pay it sharpish. Doesn't seem to have been a fine though. I would have thought that was automatic. Unless they did and she didn't tell me. Usually she shares this sort of thing though.

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Pornthrowaway78@reddit

I forgot to pay my insurance. I was sure I'd put it on auto renew because I didn't want to forget and get caught with no insurance, but no, 6 points and a £200 fine and my insurance has tripled.

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Grand_Connection_869@reddit

No, but only because it’s set up to pay yearly by direct debit.

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MrPogoUK@reddit

I forgot for a couple of weeks, paid it immediately and then was worried about getting a fine for a few weeks, but never heard anything else about it.

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West_Guarantee284@reddit

No. They send me a reminder letter, and I sort it as soon as I receive that. I also have a reminder in my calendar just in case but have inevitably resolved it by the time that alerts me.

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Own-Mango5018@reddit

I completely forgot mid pandemic, despite having the letter on my desk where I was working daily, but only drove a few times. It was a month out of date but I didn’t receive a fine, I assume they were being lenient

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Charming_Pirate@reddit

Tax, no. I did at one point forget to get my MOT on time 3 years in a row though.

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Missy246@reddit

Had an absolute nightmare when I realised it was due for renewal and I was 350 miles away from home with said car but without the letter than lets you renew it online. (Friday night, DVLA closed) Then I happened to look back through the confirmation emails from previous successful online renewals and suddenly noticed that there was a pattern to the code you have to enter to renew your tax (altering by a few digits each year). Entered what I thought was going to be the correct code for 2023 and bingo! - updated it online 15 mins before the deadline.

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waxfutures@reddit

I forgot on my motorbike this year. Apparently I got a reminder, but if it was two weeks before it ran out that would've been while I was ill with Covid, I don't remember seeing it and have never found it since. I got a final warning a couple of weeks after it ran out and paid it immediately.

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DrewBk@reddit

Yes! No reminder letter and one day came out and found the car clamped. Had to pay a fine as well. 30 years of driving and had never not paid the tax. Funny how this happened just after they stopped using the paper discs on your windscreen. I set multiple reminders to make sure i do it now.

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K-Motorbike-12@reddit

So I know someone who had forgotten to re tax his motorbike after sorn'ing it for winter. He reckons he had done thousands of miles up and down the motorway before he realised and taxed it. No fine or anything. Seems you just got unlucky.

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JoeyJoeC@reddit

Brother had an untaxed car parked outside of the house on the road for 4 hours before it was lifted and taken to a compound 40+ miles away, which was closed, meaning had to leave it for the weekend, still having to pay the storage costs which ended up being £200+. Ended up letting them keep it.

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alancake@reddit

No, but I missed my MOT by a full month.

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SaladOfReasons@reddit

I didn't find out I'd forgotten to pay the £30 tax until I received a letter from a debt collector, with a bill for £80. Cutting a long story short, the reminder had gone to my old address, so I made sure my V5C and License were both up to date and then paid the tax. When I rang to pay the debt collector, they wouldn't take my payment unless I could prove that I had a payment plan in place with every other company who I receive a bill from - utilities, council tax, mobile phone, etc. At first, they literally refused to let me pay, but after several months of arguing with them, I finally sorted the payment out. Then I asked for my data to be removed from their system and received a letter from the DVLA stating that my 'erasure request' did not apply and the debt company will now hold onto my data for 6 years! Wtf is going on in this country, honestly?!

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Non-Combatant@reddit

Aye, a few times. Only left it long enough to get a fine once though. Not exactly a big deal.

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ContinuousMountain@reddit

> No idea how they found out Because they keep records of who's paid and who hasn't? I'd have thought that was obvious.

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Fun-Fly-8325@reddit

I've just got a calendar event reminder to do it. What is really annoying is that my car is tax free, but I still have to login to the system and 'pay'. Presumably I'd still get in trouble for not doing this. Baffling.

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DVPL0ver@reddit

Of course you were, this country they treat people who drive as cash cows and criminals at the same time. I’m sick of it. Fake number plates from this year, pop up on ANPR cameras with no problems too. Want to milk me? Not anymore!

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tjjwaddo@reddit

Arrange to pay it by direct debit, and the TV license. Two less things to worry about.

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Triple_OG_2023@reddit

I can't stand unorganised people

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Triple_OG_2023@reddit

Mines £30 a year.

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Upstairs_Gas_1888@reddit

> No idea how they found out, The big database?

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Accomplished-Pen-69@reddit

Yes. Moved and didn't update license and v5

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Mischeese@reddit

Which reminds me, I think mine runs out on my car this month and I’ve not had a reminder. Thanks!

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Ok_Cow_3431@reddit

My car tax has auto-renewed on Direct Debit for the past decade or so, the reasons for forgetting to tax your car are vanishingly small

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TheatrePlode@reddit

I forgot last year, I was moving at the time so was pre-occupied. They just sent me a final reminder and I paid it and nothing happened. They know because it says you haven't paid, there's also number plate cameras out there checking you have tax and insurance when out driving.

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patchmau5@reddit (OP)

Yeah that must have been how they found me. The letter said evidence of activity in an area I don’t often find myself in, so must have been a camera of some sort. Better to have been told now than months later, as the fine goes up each month.

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Jesterstear99@reddit

There was a problem (that the DVLA will never admit to) with the V11 reminder letters that should have gone out in July (for tax starting 1st August), lots of people didn't get one and quite a few claim to have had fines for non payment.  The solution of course is to use a calendar, but I never do, and if it wasn't for the V11 I wouldn't tax mine either.  In The Olden Days DVLA used to send you a little paper disc with the expiry date on that you had to put in the windscreen, then you could always see when the tax was due......  They are supposed to be starting some sort of online service that does away with V11s and sends out emails instead. We cynics think that setting this up is what caused the problem with the V11s in July.

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patchmau5@reddit (OP)

Wow yeah, that about sums up what happened to me. It expired August 1st and I never got any info. Possibly a admin/technical cockup then. Not that they would admit it I’m sure.

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SpudFire@reddit

Ahhh I just replied to OP saying that I didn't get the reminder letter in July. I got an overdue letter in August and I was able to renew without a fine. I can't believe you called paper tax disc time "the olden days" though. I'm not ready for anything I was around for to be referred to as such.

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Disastrous-Will-6629@reddit

I did actually. I bought a car a week ago with a tax paid until the 1st of November, which is today. You just reminded me to pay it now. Thanks!

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PerfectFeature2892@reddit

I have too, just totally slipped my mind. Now I’ve got it on direct debit which is a lot less hassle.

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bacon_cake@reddit

I did, but they actually wrote to me and said "You're late paying your car tax" which I thought was nice. Odd as they could have just fined me.

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mas-sive@reddit

You didn’t declare your car SORN that’s how they found out

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wolfwalke@reddit

Good on you, it’s another bull shit tax… not a criminal in my eyes.. the ones who are taxing you on a car you’ve already been taxed on that uses fuel that’s already taxed are the criminals

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AerodynamicHandshake@reddit

> No idea how they found out You went from column "tax paid" to "not tax paid" in their excel document. But no, I've never forgot. Currently do it by DD, in the past it's always been concurrent with all the other car bits that need doing.

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mas-sive@reddit

And SORN = False

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patchmau5@reddit (OP)

Same, but my tax is £20 a year and they never used to offer DD for that. They do now though, and it comes to £1.75 a month. I’m not loaded but it’s far simpler just to chuck them £20 once and forgot to 12 months… or maybe not!

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Chilton_Squid@reddit

You can set it up for DD but annually.

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Advanced-Interview57@reddit

Mine is the same cost and I have had a dd for years.

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AerodynamicHandshake@reddit

Yeah my tax used to be a double digit figure so it was no bother pay in full but it's over £200 a year now so sod it, DD it is.

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-TheHumorousOne-@reddit

Don't people normally have their tax a similar time to MOT? I feel like it goes hand in hand, booked mot, might as well sort me Road tax out.

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Ok-Woodpecker9171@reddit

Yes, found out when I got my car MOT'd. I usually get a letter but with Royal Mail turning shit I got no letter this year

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dvb70@reddit

I worked with someone who forgot to pay their car tax for 3 years. Eventually they drove somewhere they did not normally drive and I believe got flagged by an ANPR camera. It's still not clear to me how they manage this without the car being declared as SORN. How did they not get picked up on back end systems just by the fact they were the registered keeper of a car that was untaxed and not SORN. I guess these systems are not infallible.

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DameKumquat@reddit

I get lots of emails and texts about the car tax, so never forgotten it. But did forget the MOT which happened about the time I gave birth - only noticed when we went to renew the car tax 11 months later and it couldn't go through because the car wasn't MOT'd. Oops. Got MOT and tax sorted ASAP, and now we get reminders from the garage for the MOT too.

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Rusty_M@reddit

I was a week or two late this year by mistake. I never received any form or anything, so had to use the V5 to do it. Amusingly, my tax is £0, but you still have to go through the process of 'paying' it.

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usernamesforsuckers@reddit

I mean they even offer monthly payments via direct debit (interest free), it's pretty much impossible to forget these days

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MoistChuff@reddit

No but I’ve forgotten that I have paid it. Same with my essential insurances. Halfway through the year I suddenly panic and need to check.

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asskraken99@reddit

I've always paid on time but didn't this year because I definitely didn't get the reminder. I just happened to notice when checking my budgets. Also, why is it so much more expensive to pay by direct debit? Out of principle, I have to pay annually. Crazy.

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AtebYngNghymraeg@reddit

Not tax, but my son didn't realise his MOT was due until one day he said "My MOT must be due about now", checked and discovered it was two months overdue. Cue his sisters both laughing at him and saying it was a typically stupid "him" thing to do... only for one of them to check her car's MOT and discover it was nine months overdue! She thought it had just been done when she bought it almost a year ago, but it turns out it had been done months before.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

No, but it would rely on me seeing the letter and actually going to the website (I pay zero but still have to go through the motions). I can see how it gets missed.

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SirLoinThatSaysNi@reddit

> No idea how they found out I'm going out on a limb here, but they have probably got a list of vehicles and their car tax records. By looking at the list then can see any which haven't been paid, they may even have automated this. Something like "select * from tblVehicles where tax_status = FALSE". > Just wondered how normal it is to forget! Not that normal, most people will act on the letter they get a few weeks before it run out. They can also write a reminder on their calendar.

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Thriftfunnel@reddit

Omg you hacked dvla!

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SirLoinThatSaysNi@reddit

Shhhhhhh, I'm about to inject this. If you buy me a pint I'll add your name too. UPDATE tblVehicles SET tax_status = 'ForeverFree' WHERE VehicleOwner = "SirLoinThatSaysNi";

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Lower_Possession_697@reddit

Just set it up as a direct debit and then never think about it again.

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patchmau5@reddit (OP)

Never used to be an option for my car tax as it was just £20 a year!

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SurprisedCoot23@reddit

I forgot for about 2 weeks about 15 years ago when you still had to do it at the post office. I thought my tax and mot ran out at the same time but when I looked the tax came a month earlier. No fine for me fortunately. Also when it was no longer compulsory to display a tax disc I never bothered removing the expired one and got a notice stuck in my car saying I would be fined if I continued to display the out of date tax disc.

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