Vehicle Excise Duty

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Vehicle Excise Duty (VED; also known as "vehicle tax", "car tax", and "road tax", formerly as a "tax disc"), is an annual tax levied as an excise duty, and which must be paid for most types of powered vehicles which are to be used or parked on public roads in the United Kingdom.^[1] Registered vehicles that are not being used or parked on public roads and which have been taxed since 31 January 1998 must be covered by a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) to avoid VED. In 2016, VED generated approximately £6 billion for the Exchequer.^[2][3]

Tax disc

The “tax disc” was mandatory until 1st October 2014, when it was abolished. The top of the disc said the expiry date (e.g, 27 08 13, although this is the current system. Along the left would the license (number) plate (e.g, JD17 ODX) and the make (e.g, HONDA (it would have been capitals in the real thing)), and the CC (some would have not added this on it). The bottom left would have said how long the tax would have been (e.g, 12 or 6). On the right would have been the tax rate (e.g, £221.00). Down would be the trailer weight (if your car had one). And then it would be a section never added. The bottom middle of the disc would be a stamp from the Post Office or a print saying “DVLA EVL”.

A vehicle tax was first introduced in Britain in 1888. In 1920, an excise duty was introduced that specifically applied to motor vehicles; initially it was hypothecated (ring-fenced or earmarked) for road construction and paid directly into a special Road Fund. After 1937, this reservation of vehicle revenue for roads was ended, and instead the revenue was paid into the Consolidated Fund – the general pot of money held by government. Since then, maintenance of the UK road network has been funded out of general taxation, of which VED is a part.^[4]