Hi

The beloved tax disc is 93 years old and it's about to be abolished.

Tax discs in the UK are set to be scrapped completely on 01 October but what exactly does this mean?

Just because the physical tax disc is being removed from our windscreens it doesn't mean that you no longer need to pay road tax to drive a vehicle or keep one on the road. Police will instead use cameras to read car licence plates which will automatically check to see if tax has been paid.

Did you know:

• The government states that abolishing the tax disk will save the taxpayer around £10 million every year
• Last year the government issued 42.2 million tax discs
• Since they were launched in 1921, over 1.7 BILLION tax discs have been issued. 

Why the shift to the new system?

The government has said that the shift away from the paper tax disc in the windscreen will save the tax payer £10 million every year

So how can I pay for my road tax?

Drivers will be able to instead pay their UK road tax via Direct Debit or through the Post Office.

As well as being paid annually, motorists can also pay for their tax monthly or six-monthly although both of those options have an additional annual cost of 5%.

Will the tax still transfer if I buy or sell a used car?

Unfortunately no. When a vehicle is sold the road tax will no longer transfer with it. This means that anyone buying a new vehicle will have to ensure they tax it before driving it.

Those selling vehicles are being warned that the onus is on them to alert the DVLA when their vehicle is sold to a new owner otherwise the seller could face a fine of up to £1,000. The good news for those selling their vehicles though, is they will receive an automatic refund to their bank account for any full calendar months left on the vehicle tax. This will happen once the DVLA has been notified that the person registered to the vehicle has sold it.

An automatic refund will also be issued when the DVLA is alerted that the vehicle has been:
- scrapped at an authorised Treatment Facility
- exported
- registered as off the road (SORN)
- the tax class on the vehicle is switched to be exempt

You can find out more about this here:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes