18-March-2010

Foreign cars dodging road tax

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I don't know about you but I am growing sick of the number of foreign registered vehicles on UK roads. I teach English as a Foreign Language and many of my students have told me that they have Polish, German, Latvian registered registrations because it is cheaper to pay road tax there.

Seven years ago I moved to Germany where I stayed for four years. You may or may not have noticed that German number plates have two discs in the middle after the letters which indicate their town. The police can scan these discs with a gun and find out instantly whether the car is taxed, MOT'd and insured. Needless to say foreign vehicles are routinely stopped and notices are always served to re-register the car. Obviously as a law-abiding citizen I did this as it was German roads I was using and not British ones, so it was only right that I contributed money to their upkeep.

However the Germans' tougher, meaner neighbour Austria have a completely dodge-free system and we, as good Europeans should borrow it from them. Upon arrival in Austria all foreign vehicle must purchase a Vignette which is a temporary road tax sticker. Up to 100km away from the border in Germany there are places to buy this dotted along the motorways and you can buy it on the border itself too. It costs about 15 EUR for 10 days and is used so that private and commercial vehicles contribute to the roads that they are using - which is especially wise as most foreign vehicles in Austria are not-resident, they're simply passing through on the long drive between Istanbula and Paris or London.

There are very clear picture instructions telling you specifically where to place it on the windscreen so that police cameras can pick it up. If it is wrongly displayed you have to pay a hefty fine and if your car doesn't have one, the police can and will impound your car. They don't mess about in Austria! You either do it their organised and efficient way or you pay the consequences. There are no grey areas.

One day after feeling personally aggrieved with a UK-Road tax dodger I went to police and asked what could be done about it as I knew that the car in question had been in this country for over two years. I was told that foreign vehicles may remain foreign registered for up to six months legally. I naturally explained that this car had exceeded this limit and then some. The police officer said that it must be an uninterrupted six months - yes you guessed it! That means if they take the car on a day trip to Calais or Dublin and then bring it back the whole thing starts again. This is completely outrageous and sadly completely British - disorganised, vague and wishy-washy.

The police officer also told me that it wasn't a police matter unless the vehicle in question was breaking a law. She advised me to tell a traffic warden but the problem with this is that in Kirkcaldy where I live, traffic wardens only patrol the town centre and only work between Monday - Friday 9am till 5pm. Incredible on the downside it means that any Polish person that works in a factory with a car park and lives outside the town centre can get away completely Scot-free. On the plus side though, it means now that I can utterly ignore all maximum 20 minute parking signs after 5pm and all day on Saturday and Sunday! If you can't beat them, join them I say!

By: Jimmy Beaver

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is there any sort ov camera on the road which picks up if your car has tax or not

karl 31-Jan-2010 18:31

Iñaki, you may not be aware that the police in some areas of Spain where there is a large ex-pat population are now running checks and taking action against illegal vehicles. They have been doing this in Barcelona (provincia) for many years and you will see very few illegal vehicles there, and recently they have started in Alicante and Murcia, in place like Benidorm, Altea, and the area round La Manga del Mar Menor where all those ghastly loud mouthed low class footballing types have their homes and boats.

MikeP 20-Jan-2010 08:05

Iñaki Norimaki your one of them dogers!!! Pay up like the rest of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAS TO BE... 20-Jan-2010 07:35

Jimmy Beaver,

I understand your complaint even I think it's quite selfish because as you well know or at least you
should to be aware in Spain we've got many Brits whom own British cars and they don't pay road takes and they don't ITV that means MOT in the UK. Do you think that you should be quiet about the matter because knowing that we've got the same in Spain? By the way I know a few of them and I don't call the police. Shame on you mate

Iñaki Norimaki 17-Jan-2010 19:11

Anyone know if you can nail the bar stewards under the Human Rights Act or the Race Relations Act? Equal application of the law means that they cannot enforce the law against you if you can demonstrate that the law has not been enforced against another. Next time you're tagged for speeding, point out that because several police officers have escaped conviction with no excuse, by law you should too.

x 04-Nov-2009 01:39

Before Gordon came to full power he announced a two year MOT, to cut red tape, and to bring us in line with the rest of europe (Google 2 year MOT) and it was discussed for a few years and then dropped on health and safety grounds, they calculated a hundred more road deaths a year,

However, all european cars, with an MOT that may be 23 months old are allowed on our roads,

We brit's can be caught and fined whilst on the road if our MOT is a few days late by a police car numberplate camera, (backed up by police computer databases), but the foreign driver might have no MOT at all,

How fair is this?.

Gainsborough lad. 03-Nov-2009 20:44

more like you wally.. and unregister your car and f**k the dvla..

i am me and i am free 14-Aug-2009 04:50

Well I think it's a blummin' outrage!!! As an uncle I feel it's totally acceptaable for me to touch my nephew's genitalia. I also like the crisp sound that is made from the brick bouncing off their small delicate heads as they just lie there unconscious and completely unaware of what will occur before they wake up three days later with a sharp pain in their sphincter.

Stuart MacDonald 22-Jan-2009 12:34

Once again we see the British government happy to help all those immigrants that come in to our country and allow them to fleece it any way they can. On the other hand, the Brit who was born and bred here and has been here 30, 40, 50 years or more are the real victims in this country. They are the ones who are hounded for unpaid bills, taxes,rent, parking fines etc. The quicker there is a revolution the better.

MERCENARY 10-Nov-2008 08:54

I agree about the Polish, they are hard working and decent people, and I will be sorry to see them go. I cannot say the same for many African migrants and asylum seekers, especially the Somali's, they really are the pits.

Twattymulldoonican 19-Oct-2008 09:44

Don't think the DVLA will help out. They are another bunch of clowns that don't have a clue.

I applied for my SORN on line, was informed that it will take 6-8 weeks to arrive. That was 9 months ago. I managed to get in touch with them and you'll never guess what, no record of it. Yet, I have their reply.

They fire across these adverts on TV about threatening to crush your car. They are that stupid these people, they'd end up crushing their own car.

DVLA - Space Cadet Academy more like.

Robbie Box 26-Sep-2008 10:57

Bonjour Asterix,
Unfortunately your analysis of the UK is spot on.
We have inept politicians because we vote them in and then do nothing about their woeful performance once in power - apathy rules. Dross Labour is a bad joke.
Many Britsh people, including myself, admire the French - while I do always agree with your actions, you do stand up for yourselves.

Deliverance 26-Sep-2008 10:41

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Foreign cars dodging road tax

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