Free Road Tax

[johng]

This is what it says on the gov.uk website, they will update this in April this year.

"You can apply to stop paying vehicle tax if your vehicle was built before 1 January 1978. You must tax your vehicle even if you do not have to pay.
If you do not know when your vehicle was built, but it was first registered before 8 January 1978, you can still apply to stop paying vehicle tax."

My log book says first registered 1/1/1978, so I took all my paperwork to the Post Office last year. The guy there said he couldn't do it and would have to send my log book off to the DVLA and I'd get a new one back in 6 weeks. 2 months later nothing had arrived so I rang the DVLA. The man there said that my car wasn't eligible yet because they put the first of January as the date of first registration when they don't actually know the correct date and unless I could prove it was built before 1/1/78 then I'd have to wait another year. He also said they never received my log book from the Post Office, so I'd have to pay £25 to get a new one!! Reluctantly I paid up and in due course a new log book arrived. 3 months later I received another log book through the post which had my car registered as a Historic Vehicle and then I also received a letter to say my car had been taxed for 12 months (for free). So another example of left hand not knowing what right hand is doing.

Hope this helps (although I doubt it will).

 

[PAZ9556]

This is what it says on the gov.uk website, they will update this in April this year.

"You can apply to stop paying vehicle tax if your vehicle was built before 1 January 1978. You must tax your vehicle even if you do not have to pay.
If you do not know when your vehicle was built, but it was first registered before 8 January 1978, you can still apply to stop paying vehicle tax."

My log book says first registered 1/1/1978, so I took all my paperwork to the Post Office last year. The guy there said he couldn't do it and would have to send my log book off to the DVLA and I'd get a new one back in 6 weeks. 2 months later nothing had arrived so I rang the DVLA. The man there said that my car wasn't eligible yet because they put the first of January as the date of first registration when they don't actually know the correct date and unless I could prove it was built before 1/1/78 then I'd have to wait another year. He also said they never received my log book from the Post Office, so I'd have to pay £25 to get a new one!! Reluctantly I paid up and in due course a new log book arrived. 3 months later I received another log book through the post which had my car registered as a Historic Vehicle and then I also received a letter to say my car had been taxed for 12 months (for free). So another example of left hand not knowing what right hand is doing.

Hope this helps (although I doubt it will).

Sounds about right , I heard that they won’t free tax it until a year after 1st registration.
In my case this is true,took all my forms to post office 2 weeks ago and they sorted it ,all taxed free now

 

[Roscobbc]

You'd think that PC Plod would 'figure' that if a vehicle is UK registered and has current RFL ('free' or otherwise) it must be
A. less than 3 years old
B. subject to a MOT test
C. Mot exempt
The very fact that the vehicle is actually taxed you'd think would make them query things.
'Free' tax. OK so 'Historic' status on a vehicle relates to being 40 years old (and as from last April it's 'rolling' rather than fixed as being all pre-1977 cars previously)
My Vette since I have owned it (2000) it has been exempt from a RFL fee. And importantly the term is 'Exempt' from the usual fee (whether it is £35 or £350 per annum) and not 'Free'.
Nothing is for 'free' - why HMG decided to levy a zero charge for the hundreds of thousands of 40 year old vehicles and loose revenue beats me - especially when one considers the reduced RFL revenue they are getting from owners of low emission, hybrid and electric vehicles.
There is no such thing as a 'free lunch' - my guess is that the 'bigger picture' at some point in the very near future is that HMG will 'control' the use of 'Historic' vehicles.
As from April his year we see the first 'draconian' charges levied on pre-2016 diesel cars and 2016 petrol cars and charging £12 per day 24/7.
If anyone is brave enough to take one of these vehicles in to central London for a show or night out you'll pay £12 for the pleasure.
Stay until midnight and return early hours of the morning and you'll pay another £12 (so £24)
Strangely 'Historic' vehicles are exempt from this charge.
October 2021 and the charge zone move out to North and South Circular roads.
Any of you guys visiting the London Classic Car Show will have to pay the charge if your car is not compliant or 'Historic'. Not a lot of people know this...........

 

[PAZ9556]

You'd think that PC Plod would 'figure' that if a vehicle is UK registered and has current RFL ('free' or otherwise) it must be
A. less than 3 years old
B. subject to a MOT test
C. Mot exempt
The very fact that the vehicle is actually taxed you'd think would make them query things.
'Free' tax. OK so 'Historic' status on a vehicle relates to being 40 years old (and as from last April it's 'rolling' rather than fixed as being all pre-1977 cars previously)
My Vette since I have owned it (2000) it has been exempt from a RFL fee. And importantly the term is 'Exempt' from the usual fee (whether it is £35 or £350 per annum) and not 'Free'.
Nothing is for 'free' - why HMG decided to levy a zero charge for the hundreds of thousands of 40 year old vehicles and loose revenue beats me - especially when one considers the reduced RFL revenue they are getting from owners of low emission, hybrid and electric vehicles.
There is no such thing as a 'free lunch' - my guess is that the 'bigger picture' at some point in the very near future is that HMG will 'control' the use of 'Historic' vehicles.
As from April his year we see the first 'draconian' charges levied on pre-2016 diesel cars and 2016 petrol cars and charging £12 per day 24/7.
If anyone is brave enough to take one of these vehicles in to central London for a show or night out you'll pay £12 for the pleasure.
Stay until midnight and return early hours of the morning and you'll pay another £12 (so £24)
Strangely 'Historic' vehicles are exempt from this charge.
October 2021 and the charge zone move out to North and South Circular roads.
Any of you guys visiting the London Classic Car Show will have to pay the charge if your car is not compliant or 'Historic'. Not a lot of people know this...........

You would think that in this a

You'd think that PC Plod would 'figure' that if a vehicle is UK registered and has current RFL ('free' or otherwise) it must be
A. less than 3 years old
B. subject to a MOT test
C. Mot exempt
The very fact that the vehicle is actually taxed you'd think would make them query things.
'Free' tax. OK so 'Historic' status on a vehicle relates to being 40 years old (and as from last April it's 'rolling' rather than fixed as being all pre-1977 cars previously)
My Vette since I have owned it (2000) it has been exempt from a RFL fee. And importantly the term is 'Exempt' from the usual fee (whether it is £35 or £350 per annum) and not 'Free'.
Nothing is for 'free' - why HMG decided to levy a zero charge for the hundreds of thousands of 40 year old vehicles and loose revenue beats me - especially when one considers the reduced RFL revenue they are getting from owners of low emission, hybrid and electric vehicles.
There is no such thing as a 'free lunch' - my guess is that the 'bigger picture' at some point in the very near future is that HMG will 'control' the use of 'Historic' vehicles.
As from April his year we see the first 'draconian' charges levied on pre-2016 diesel cars and 2016 petrol cars and charging £12 per day 24/7.
If anyone is brave enough to take one of these vehicles in to central London for a show or night out you'll pay £12 for the pleasure.
Stay until midnight and return early hours of the morning and you'll pay another £12 (so £24)
Strangely 'Historic' vehicles are exempt from this charge.
October 2021 and the charge zone move out to North and South Circular roads.
Any of you guys visiting the London Classic Car Show will have to pay the charge if your car is not compliant or 'Historic'. Not a lot of people know this...........

You would think that in this automated world if a vehicle was registered tax exempt and registered mot exempt it would be updated instantly.This never seems to happen ,when applying for tax exemptions you actually sign a form at the post office or dvla office (V12 form) stating that it is mot exempt so surely you’d think it would be updated when applying for tax .As mine still has an mot I’ll see what happens when it runs out or I may just get another mot for peace of mind .
It is as you say nothing is for free in this world let’s just see how many fingers the government will bite off in the future lol .

 

[Redlevel]

Even if your vehicle is MOT exempt, if you do MOT it and it fails, you can't use it until you have it fixed and passed again, exempt or not.

I would just pay the 25gbp and MOT a vehicle to keep from opening a can of worms.

If you are exempt, you are liable to be inspected at some point and if you fail a roadside inspection, your car is 'unroadworthy' and could be seized. Same goes for insurance. Remember, your insurance is only valid if your car is roadworthy. Yes I know the MOT is just a point in time, but at least its something to have.

Getting an MOT ticket seems to be the easiest option and as much as I hate, it, its the only time I get to take a proper look underneath.

 

[Nosheruk]

My code is G28.
I guess this is March 28 1978?

Think i will wait till April 1st to try and exempt mine

 

[phill78]

im sitting here thinking my car is now over 40 yrs old
if it was reg. before 01/01/78 it would be a 77 ?

 

[PAZ9556]

My code is G28.
I guess this is March 28 1978?

Think i will wait till April 1st to try and exempt mine

Yes that looks right Norm

 

[johng]

im sitting here thinking my car is now over 40 yrs old
if it was reg. before 01/01/78 it would be a 77 ?

Phill, looks like you've got a Pace car, I thought they were a 78 model. What date does your log book say it was first registered? If it's before 1/1/78 then you should be able to get Historic Vehicle status now, if it is actually 1/1/78 like mine then you would be best to wait until April.

 

[phill78]

Phill, looks like you've got a Pace car, I thought they were a 78 model. What date does your log book say it was first registered? If it's before 1/1/78 then you should be able to get Historic Vehicle status now, if it is actually 1/1/78 like mine then you would be best to wait until April.

hi my car first reg. was 01/03/1978 from the log book
so next 01/03/2019 my car will be 41 yrs old on that date
so my car is more than 40 yrs old now
if it was first reg say 25 /12/77 it would be 42 yrs old

 

[Corvetteville]

This is what it says on the gov.uk website, they will update this in April this year.

"You can apply to stop paying vehicle tax if your vehicle was built before 1 January 1978. You must tax your vehicle even if you do not have to pay.
If you do not know when your vehicle was built, but it was first registered before 8 January 1978, you can still apply to stop paying vehicle tax."

My log book says first registered 1/1/1978, so I took all my paperwork to the Post Office last year. The guy there said he couldn't do it and would have to send my log book off to the DVLA and I'd get a new one back in 6 weeks. 2 months later nothing had arrived so I rang the DVLA. The man there said that my car wasn't eligible yet because they put the first of January as the date of first registration when they don't actually know the correct date and unless I could prove it was built before 1/1/78 then I'd have to wait another year. He also said they never received my log book from the Post Office, so I'd have to pay £25 to get a new one!! Reluctantly I paid up and in due course a new log book arrived. 3 months later I received another log book through the post which had my car registered as a Historic Vehicle and then I also received a letter to say my car had been taxed for 12 months (for free). So another example of left hand not knowing what right hand is doing.

Hope this helps (although I doubt it will).

Similar story, DVLA site say take to post office, but they didn't want to know! So sent off myself. Reply came back, "you need to fill in some form", V10??. No mention on the site though. My car was registered in the UK 1/1/78, all this happened just before Xmas 18. Was starting to get concerned when it arrived 2 weeks ago. I guess they waited for 2019, which guaranteed it was more than 40 yrs old. Otherwise you need to do the build date code thing & get a letter from the Chairman.

 

[phill78]

Similar story, DVLA site say take to post office, but they didn't want to know! So sent off myself. Reply came back, "you need to fill in some form", V10??. No mention on the site though. My car was registered in the UK 1/1/78, all this happened just before Xmas 18. Was starting to get concerned when it arrived 2 weeks ago. I guess they waited for 2019, which guaranteed it was more than 40 yrs old. Otherwise you need to do the build date code thing & get a letter from the Chairman.[/QUOTE

i just cant get my head round it
my car will be free tax then it is 41 yrs old and one month LOL

 

[Corvette]

Some facts:
Uk model year 01 jan -dec31.
USA model year 01Aug-31July.
Spot the difference? It can get even more confusing when uk reg used to be 01August thru 31 July, remember build date is always before, therefore different to date of first registration.

So yes you could have a 1978 Corvette that was built anytime after 1 August 77. The trim tag on A post gives a code for actual BUILD date but unless you have a club letter decoding and confirm actual build date date at the point of registration application DVLA always give an age related plate for 1 Jan of model year.
Most corvette V5’s show ‘Declared Manufactured’ date that won’t match trim tag date.

And don’t forget the wording on V5 ‘Declared Manufactured’ does not mean actual build date but rather the date declared by the applicant for registration.

 

[PAZ9556]

Phill I had no bother when I took it all to the post office they couldn’t of been more helpful .I think the V10 form is the road tax application form ,they just changed the V5 classification to historic vehicle sent it all off then less than 2weeks it was taxed for 12 months. I am just awaiting new V5 now

 

[PAZ9556]

My code is G28.
I guess this is March 28 1978?

Think i will wait till April 1st to try and exempt mine

norm here is a handy info site.
1978 C3 Corvette | Ultimate Guide (Overview, Specs, VIN Info, Performance & More)

 

[PAZ9556]

• Location:
  • On the driver’s side upper left-hand door hinge pillar.
  • 
• Example:
  • H27 – Body build date code.
  • H – Designates the Month (See Chart Below).
    • A – Sep., 1977B – Oct., 1977C – Nov., 1977D – Dec., 1977E – Jan., 1978F – Feb., 1978, G – Mar., 1978H – Apr., 1978 I – May., 1978 J – Jun., 1978 K – Jul., 1978 L – Aug., 1978
  • 27 – Designates the Day of the Month.
  • 152 – Interior Trim code. 152 – Silver (Leather)
  • 19U – Exterior Color Code Upper Half of Body. 19 – Black
  • 47M – Exterior Color Code Lower Half of Body. 47 – Silver

 

[phill78]

Phill I had no bother when I took it all to the post office they couldn’t of been more helpful .I think the V10 form is the road tax application form ,they just changed the V5 classification to historic vehicle sent it all off then less than 2weeks it was taxed for 12 months. I am just awaiting new V5 now

Thanks guys
im just going to tax for 6 months and claim it back
i cant be arsed with it anymore lol