Safe Speed Forums

Dept of Transport: VED evasion cost rises by £18m to £147m
The Department for Transport has published National Statistics on the evasion of Vehicle Excise Duty in Great Britain in 2005; it is now estimated to be costing £147 million in the current year 2005/6, some £18 million more than in 2004/5 but well below the figure of over £206 million in 2002/3.

The revenue lost from VED evasion is equivalent to 3.6 per cent of the total revenue that should be raised, compared with 3.4 per cent in 2004/5 and 4.8 per cent in 2002/3. In the Private and Light Goods tax class which accounts for 87 per cent of vehicle stock, evasion rose from 2.9 per cent of vehicles in use in 2004 to 3.1 per cent in 2005. The equivalent figure for 2002 was 4.4 per cent.

Regionally, the largest increase in evasion rate between 2004 and 2005 was in Wales. The survey also showed that vehicles that are not correctly licensed have on average lower mileage than properly licensed vehicles in all tax classes. Evasion rates are highest among motorcycles and ‘other vehicles’, as was the case in 2004.

Evasion rates are higher for older vehicles. Evasion among vehicles in the PLG class that are more than 10 years old is five times the evasion level of vehicles less than 10 years old. Evasion is around 10 times higher for vehicles whose owner details are not known.

The latest DfT report describes how the survey was carried out and presents detailed results, including further comparisons against those from the previous two surveys.

no money spent to administer...nothing to enforce.....no need to pay for adverts.........bloody hell it may even be revenue neutral!

But its the obvious answer

Now I'm a simple soul but if VED was abolished and fuel duty increased........wouldn't it be the perfect evasion proof tax?

Also if the tax goes onto fuel, I would be very concerned as to who is going to make sure they don't add on too much.

Only problem - 50000 welshmen in swansea looking for jobs.( Not too bad though - more cheap second holiday homes on market)

Now I'm a simple soul but if VED was abolished and fuel duty increased........wouldn't it be the perfect evasion proof tax?

no money spent to administer...nothing to enforce.....no need to pay for adverts.........bloody hell it may even be revenue neutral!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! having a tax disc shows that the car has an MOT and is insured. The £110 for my road tax is no big deal, it shows I'm a responsible road user,. It also shows the car is registered to some body some where.

I agree - retaining the "tax disc" is essential to ensure that vehicles are being operated legally. Even if VED was abolished this would still be necessary.

I don't agree with that at all.

The point I was making was that there is a need for official registration of vehicles, for reasons such as ensuring they have MoTs and allowing them to be traceable by the police. Therefore, even if you eliminate VED, there is still a need for vehicle registration.

Without registration plates, anarchy and chaos would result on the roads.

The point I was making was that there is a need for official registration of vehicles, for reasons such as ensuring they have MoTs and allowing them to be traceable by the police. Therefore, even if you eliminate VED, there is still a need for vehicle registration.

Without registration plates, anarchy and chaos would result on the roads.

I agree there's a need for vehicle registration. The 'crime' just now is that the use of vehicle registration is becoming so onerous that the entire process is under threat as people realise that they are better off without a correctly registered vehicle.

I don't know what percentage of vehicles have to be incorrectly registered before the system becomes useless, but I reckon about 20% and we're at least half way there.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! having a tax disc shows that the car has an MOT and is insured.

Not true. One of my bikes has an MOT and insurance renewal 2 months after the tax is due.

I could easily ride a bike that is not insured or MOTd for 10 months and still show a valid tax disc.

Also if you buy a car with valid tax you could drive it for the duration and still be "off the "grid" as far as the law is concerned, especialy if you gave false details when you bought it.