Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[JohnDale]

Some info extracted from the FHBVC news letter which may be of interest to other forum members:-

Firstly, the promised exemption Vehicle Excise Duty extension from the end of 1972 to the end of 1973 came into force on 1 April. But it will not be as simple as we might have expected. DVLA appear to have decided that, unlike when the VED exemption was first introduced, keepers will have to apply for a change of taxation class to ‘historic’ to gain the exemption.
Keepers with unexpired VED on that date will then be able to claim a rebate from the date of notification of the change, using Form V14.

There is another VED related matter where DVLA have decided to introduce a bit of process just to keep us on our toes. On 1 October, DVLA will cease to issue tax discs, which is of course a good thing.

However, for reasons of avoiding fraud, DVLA have decided that it is now necessary that on any sale of a vehicle with an unexpired tax disc, the VED registration expires and a new one has to be sought.

DVLA advise that only one third of vehicles sold second-hand actually have unexpired tax discs. But given that a very significant proportion of the overall sales will be by commercial organisations, such as hire companies and fleet owners, who tend to sell at the end of a given year of ownership, it seems evident that a much greater proportion of private vehicle sales, especially of cars, will have an unexpired tax disc. The need for the new keeper to apply at the outset for a new disc will increase the effort involved in a second-hand vehicle purchase. It is likely that a significant proportion of sales of historic vehicles will be affected by this change.

You will note I have referred to the tax disc, because DVLA currently say that all vehicles are covered by this need, even if they are exempt, and no VED is in fact payable. The purpose of the need for the renewal process is not currently clear, as DVLA will gain knowledge of the new keeper through the V5C transfer process, continuous insurance will be in force and DVLA has direct knowledge of the existence of an MoT Certificate where one is required for the vehicle. The Federation has questioned the justification for the proposed process, but at the moment members should be aware of the likelihood that that is what will happen.

And finally, we are involved, primarily through FIVA, in investigating the possibility that inclusion of certain chromium products into the EU REACH Regulations (which concern hazardous chemicals) could make chrome plating difficult or impossible in the future. We will let you know how this develops.
Cheers,JD.
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1958 Ford Zephyr Mk2 Convertible
1976 Ford Granada Ghia.