THE changes to the administration of Vehicle Excise Duty which come into effect on October 1 go far beyond scrapping the tax disc.

One change which hasn’t been thought through is that on the sale of a vehicle, the seller will automatically receive a refund of the unexpired part of the duty and the vehicle will thus become ‘untaxed.’ If sold to a trader, then he or she will be unable to have the vehicle displayed for sale on the public road in front of their premises.

Equally, it will no longer be possible to buy a cheap car with a bit of tax and ‘ticket’ on it which previously solved problems for many people who are strapped for cash.

Within twelve months, it will be impossible for anybody to buy and drive away any vehicle without first paying the VED for at least six months.

All this will have a detrimental effect, particularly on small second-hand car dealers where ‘trade in’ deals are on many occasions sweetened by being able to weigh in the unexpired tax. In any event, it is difficult to see how this part of the legislation will help reduce the numbers of untaxed cars being driven on the roads and as a consequence I think the regulators should look at this again.

Paul Richardson Ripon Close Little Lever