New Taxation Band for Classic Cars

[dorsetflyer]

An interesting article appeared in the classic car press last week, about the new band G and £215 per annum for the so called gas guzzling cars.
It looks as though this will hit all the big cars post Dec 1972, as I gather it's retrospective.
This will cover the P5B, Jaguars, Daimlers, Rolls and Bentleys etc.
This surely will knock the price down of any of these classics if they were built after 1st Jan 1973.
Will we have the situation of one set of prices prior to the cut off date another set for the post ones?
Or will it have no significant change at all ?

[Phil Nottingham]

Whilst free tax is very nice especially if you have a fleet like us (and we did have before the 25 year exemption came into being) its only a small part of the cost of owning any car new or old. Old cars are still more cost effective than buying new ones if you can do your own servicing

[glennr]

I have a 73 model. I would only probably tax it for six months anyway. When I bought it I knew I would have to pay road tax so I am not that worried about the rise in duty as it is to be expected. I do think it is unfair though that there is no sliding scale in relation to the age of the car. I feel my human rights are being violated.

[dorsetflyer]

Yes thanks to this Government the sliding rule has been stopped, and there is no intention of revivng it using the pretext that it interfered with their so called 'green' policy.
That's a good idea though only taxing it for six months then SORN it for the next six.
Seeing as this government is supposed to be classless where everyone should be equal, they have shot themselves in the foot on this one by making it a 'them' and 'us' situation.

[Deleted]

Here's the information for petrol cars-
Band G (£210) is only for cars producing 226g of CO2 per km registered on or after 23rd March 2006. Band F (£190) applies to cars registered after 1st March 2001.
The rate for post-1972 cars (1549cc or above) will be £175.00 (£5 increase).
Not as bad as it first seemed!

[Smallfry]

I have always felt that exemption should be model related rather than age related. Its really stupid that all but the last few of any vehicle born on the cusp, as it were should have to pay and the earlier ones do not.
There are quite a few cars that fall into this category, that I think should be exempt.

As for this having to pay an extra £35 over a year, I dont know what all the fuss is about, its not even £1 a week. For those who are fortunate enough to be able to afford a £40K car new, its absolutely nothing, and whats more.....the government know it ! Dont worry though, Mr Brown will hike up the price of petrol again in September, when this has more or less been forgotten about.

I think you all should be more worried about how your pension is being devalued, and how much more your local council is going to have your trousers down this year, not to mention how the whole country seems to be going down the pan !

[Deleted]

I have to agree with Smallfry.
My P5B was built 19th April 1973 and having owned it for the past 12 years I was expecting the rolling historic exemption to apply to my car in due course, then Labour came into office and SNIP, they stopped it.

I feel that the date point for cut-off is very unfair to those of us who have otherwise identical vehicles to those Pre-1973 vehicles.
With more thought to the issue, the powers that be ought to have considered a cut off date and a link to
those vehicles STILL IN PRODUCTION AFTER 1st Jan 1973 and these should be allowed to have HISTORIC CLASSIFICATION too, up to the point that a particular model ceased production (June 1973 in the case of the P5B)
At any gathering of classic cars, it does iritate me slightly that, for example, older (but otherwise identical versions of my car) vehicles are tax exempt whilst I pay in full for the same sort of car.

I keep my P5B taxed and insured all year round so I can use it when ever I want. I do know of someone whose P5B is tax free and he only uses is very occasionally !

That said, I own my pride and joy because I want to for what it is and not to have a classic car just because it's tax free.

Now if the government scrapped car tax as such and added a few pence to the cost of fuel, just think of this - ALL car drivers would be paying their share. There would be no car road tax evasion by those who are 'illegal' with incorrectly registered vehicles or by those who choose to defy the law by riding around with no car tax.

Thanks for letting me get it off my chest!

FREDDY

Check out the tax rates at www.dvla.gov.uk

[dorsetflyer]

Freddy I agree with you about scrapping road tax altogether and putting the price of fuel up a few pence per litre. It does seem the fairest way, making everyone who uses their car contribute.
Those who use their cars the least pay the least, whereas at the moment you tax them even if they are sitting in a garage doing nothing.
Unfortunately this idea has been around for over thirty years now and nothing has happened. Perhaps they are frightened of the job losses as a result.

[Smallfry]

Actually John, I think what they are frightened of is the country being overrun with unused vehicles.
I suppose road tax is one way of keeping tabs on them, but what they could do is either a vehicle has a current MOT(which we pay anyway) or it is SORNed. No ifs, buts, or maybes.

By putting tax on fuel it would be much fairer, as those who use their car less, or choose to have a smaller/more economical vehicle pay less, and those of us who have bigger/thirstier vehicles pay more. I don't have a problem with that, as it gives everyone a CHOICE.

I don't imagine that this will ever happen though, especially with our marvellous Labour government........Power to the people eh ? Its getting more like Orwells' Animal Farm every day !

[PatMcCoy]

I read once that if they put road tax on to the price of petrol, big company's can claim more tax back
Which causes more problems

[Geoff Arthur]

We already have the highest fuel duty in Europe so dont encourage them to increase it yet more. Gordon Brown is not going to expand any kind of concession to anyone so we should be grateful that he did not kill off Ken Clarke's Historic Class altogether. I have 2 vehicles that get FOC road tax and 3 that dont. I start the year by paying £396 in road tax. It is a consideration when buying but not the main factor. If it is a big issue then one could always buy a Smart Diesel which pays nothing. Now wouldnt that be fun? ? ?

[Deleted]

No !! ;D

[Deleted]

Whilst we are on the subject of road tax and petrol I consider the pre 1973 owners got away lightly. This Chancellor taxes anything that moves.
Petrol is costly enough, but I was mugged on Saturday. Nonchantly cleaning the car on my drive; car pulls up, hazard lights all blazing. Man appears at entrance to drive. Have you got half a can of petrol for a couple of quid. "Cant find a garage open and I wont make it to the A140. " I offer can roughly half full. He thanks me and says he will be back within the hour. Two days later no petrol and minus a can. I played the good samaritan and lost!
Now that's the way to get your hands on cheap petrol!

Solution: Keep empty can near to garage door. Sorry mate I''m out too.

[Smallfry]

Sorry Tony, but you should have seen that coming.

[V8]

(Not argueing at all) Although the date that a car (used to) comply for historic status was if it was first registered on or before the 7th January 1973, and not the 1st January as some members have stated.
Also, only vehicles that were constructed before 1st January 1973 are permitted to display the old-style "traditional" black and white number plates.

[Keith - Portsmouth]

Are you sure you have got that right, V8?

I've just checked several government and police sites and have only found stuff like -
A vehicle qualifies in the "Historic Vehicle Class" if it was constructed before 1st January 1973

Where did you get 7th January from?

[V8]

Yes, I am right lol, not to be arsy, but my P5B Coupe was made in 1972, and was first registered on 1st January 1973.
We were unsure of whether it would qualify as a historic vehicle before we bought it, knowing that historic status was was judged on the date of first registration.
Luckily though, the cut-off date was 7th January, and so we qualified for free tax. I can't find a website now though to back this up, but it used to be on the DVLA website, which begs the question- have they changed the rules regarding historical vehicles, as there is nothing there about any cut-off date.
I would like to know what other people know regarding free tax for historic vehicles under the "current" system, because there doesnt seem to be much at all about this on the DVLA website.
Thanks.

[V8]

P.S, We got the 7th January date from the DVLA about a year ago when we re-taxed it- however this was before the new taxation classes came about. You may be right now though, because we would still qualify for free tax anyway- as the car was made in '72.

[V8]

AHA....lol, thank god I am not the only person who has been told this, look at the third post down on this page:
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=260416&f=54&h=0

[glennr]

I was under the illusion that it was not the day of registration but the day it was finished when manfactured. I had confirmation of this from the Heritage Museum that my P5B was built on the 10th March 1973 and therefore wasn't tax exempt. It was registered in June 73 (when I was 10 yrs old!)

[Deleted]

Join the club!!
My P5B Coupe was built April 19th 1973 and so has just celebrated it's 33rd birthday.
I think production stopped around June / July 1973.

How about starting a club for owners of cars that are not tax exempt even though the cars are otherwise identical?

In response to the question "What has Labour (government) done for you", my answer would be "Robbed my car of Historic Status and taxed me more than ever by stealth"

Thanks for nothing Mr T Blair.

Adrian

PS The new computerised MOT certificate states approximate year of first use of my car as 1971.
Any chance I could appeal and get Historic status?

[RichardF]

Just did a search on the DVLA web site:

www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/exemptions.htm

Road fund licence exemptions refer to:
Quote:

Old vehicles - vehicles constructed before 1 Jan 1973.............

Richard
Southampton

[Keith - Portsmouth]

I was talking to someone yesterday who had heard that the DVLA would accept (without further proof) that if a car was first registered by 7th Jan 1973 it would be eligible for nil road tax. The theory being that if it was registered by 7 Jan, then it must have been constructed in 1972. A reasonable assumption I guess.

[RichardF]

I agree, a reasonable assumption; but only of course if the 7 Jan 73 date is accurate. I find it hard to digest that a large army of Civil Servants can be flexible enough to cut any slack on this, or anything else for that matter, coupled of course that if it is so, then why the 7th? There would seem to be no reference at all that I can find on the DVLA web site so I would consider it a rumour - just like the 14 days grace for the payment of road tax.

Richard
Southampton

[dorsetflyer]

The cut off date to get tax exemption is that the vehicle must have been MANUFACTURED, on or before December 31st 1972.
Any vehicle registered from the 1st January 1973 onwards is only exempt if the previous criteria is met.