Under the new car tax rules registered keepers who fail to relicense their vehicles or make a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) declaration within the month, will be identified from DVLA?s vehicle record and issued with penalty letters. DVLA is no longer reliant on spotting unlicensed vehicles on the road before action can be taken. Registered keepers will also continue to be responsible for licensing their vehicles (or declaring SORN) until they advise DVLA that the vehicle has been sold, transferred, scrapped or exported.
Since January 2004 DVLA has also been issuing acknowledgement letters to registered keepers after a notification of a disposal or SORN declaration has been received, confirming that the record has been amended. To date, over 2 million acknowledgement letters have been issued.
Coming Soon to a TV screen near you!
On 4 January 2004, the TV campaign advertising the new car tax rules started. One advert (entitled ?Here?) encourages motorists to relicense or declare SORN on time to avoid receiving a penalty letter from the vehicle record. The second advert instructs motorists to notify DVLA when they dispose of their vehicle. Advertisements have also featured on the radio and in the national press.
Eastenders ? the sequel
Reports of Barry?s death in Eastenders have been greatly exaggerated! He is alive and well but, being out of a job, he has converted his Albert Square car lot into a mobile one called "Taxed on Time Motors" and toured Great Britain on behalf of DVLA as Shaun Williamson. And very successful he was too; DVLA is more than pleased that Shaun gave up his day job!
Suzi Perry, the face of motorcycling on BBC?s Grandstand, has also been helping to communicate the new rules to bikers. Her red leather jacket has graced many an article helping to explain that it?s in everyone?s interest to reduce the number of untaxed vehicles on the road. In January there were nearly 20,000 more taxed vehicles on our roads ? which are now safe and legal. The Agency issued fewer than 100,000 penalty notices in March 2004. Had motorists not heeded the message the number would have been about a quarter of a million. Hits to the DVLA website are also up with over 4 million hits in January 2004 compared with just over 1 million for the same period last year.
For more information on the new car tax rules visit our web site at www.dvla.gov.uk/newrules
Article taken from DVL Today - Issue 26 - Reproduced under Crown Copyright
