Increase In Road Tax Evasion
Friday, 25. May 2018
I remember when the Government announced that they were going to scrap the paper Road Fund Licence. I don’t think that there was anyone who thought that it was a good idea and could immediately see that those who didn’t like to pay for their road tax would be encouraged to do it even more.
The fact is that the number of untaxed cars on the road has increased by threefold losing the Government £107 million per annum in revenue. The latest stats produced by the Department for Transport shows that 1.8% of cars on the road are untaxed compared with 1.4% in 2015 and 0.6% in 2013, the year before the Government did away with the paper tax disc.
The figures equate to775,000 vehicles on UK roads without tax. That was an incredibly good idea then. At the time the change took place the Government suggested that it would lose £10 million whilst drivers got used to the changes. It is actually over 10 times more.
An RAC spokesman said that ‘It appears that the paper tax disc acted as a visual reminder to prompt drivers into renewing their road fund licence.’ ‘Arguably, more drivers are now prepared to try their luck and see if they can get away with not paying any road tax at all or are simply forgetting to re-tax their vehicle.’ By Graham Hill
