New Car Tax Rules

The new rules mean that keepers who fail to re-license their vehicle (or declare SORN) will incur an automatic penalty of £80 (reduced to £40 if paid within 28 days). Those who ignore the penalty could receive a County Court Judgement against them, could be stopped by the police, and/or have their vehicles clamped. Determined offenders will be faced with prosecution and could be fined a minimum £1000.

 

DVLA carries out a computer check each month to identify those vehicles without a valid tax disc. Although the new rules mean that it is no longer necessary for the vehicle to be seen on a public road before a penalty is issued, current on-road enforcement will continue.

 

 

If you do not intend to use or keep the vehicle on a public road, make a Statutory Off Road Notification. This also applies if you have recently purchased the vehicle and the previous keeper has declared SORN and you also intend to keep the vehicle off road. Your SORN declaration is valid for 12 months (provided the vehicle is retained off-road) - failure to renew it (or re-license) will also incur a penalty.

 

Note: SORN applications cannot be backdated.