Closed petition Scrap double taxation in new Vehicle Excise Duty Rules

Closed on 30 March 2015

Under the new VED rules introduced in October 2014, a person buying a car cannot use the unused road tax on the vehicle (as they could previously). They must tax it in their own name from the time of purchase (back-dated to the start of the month) and the seller will receive a refund for any complete unused months of tax. In practice, that means that the car will have had VED paid twice for the month during which the sale takes place. That is clearly an attempt to raise additional revenue by stealth.
Such ‘double taxation’ should not be permitted. It is not only unfair but will make the private sale of cars harder because the buyer must tax the vehicle in their name before it can be legally driven away or they face the prospect of being prosecuted for driving an untaxed vehicle.
The government should revise the legislation to drop this new rule and reinstate the existing rule which allows the VED on a sold vehicle to run until its expiry date.