What and why?
As from the end of September, paper tax discs will not be issued and will not be
required to be displayed. The target is to save £20 million in administrative costs
of running the paper system. All records will now be held on a central computer .
What changes to expect
From 1st October, tax discs are a thing of the past. Existing vehicles should display their discs until the 1st of October 2014.
How to check that a car is actually taxed
The DVLA have set up a website at www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk
On here you can check the “date of liability” field for the car.
How does it compare with the old system?
More and more, police officers have given over the job of checking whether
or not a car is taxed and it has been taken over by the ANPR (Automatic
number Plate Recognition) cameras. This system is incorporated into speeding cameras on motorways as well.
How else will it be used?
The system will also have records of insurance being current, insurance company and an MOT if due. Now more immediate information about any road vehicle is now available to a traffic officer than at any time. For example, a police car driving behind a car can within seconds ascertain whether it is stolen, taxed, has an MOT, insured and who the owner is.
It is not necessary to do anything at all, the system will change over automatically. All carlease uk customers who have any concerns can contact us for advice. Lease cars and vans will be handled in exactly the same way as private cars, no tax discs will be issued.