By law every car driven on the road in the UK must display a tax disc in the
lower left hand corner of the wind screen. These are renewed annually at
the cost of #155 (I think this year) - although it is likely to rise this
week when the new figures are announced. Generally these are stuck to the
front screen with a simple see-through plastic wallet. The date and colour
coding prominently show when the disc expires. The rest of the information,
car type and registration plate number are filled in by hand by a clerk at
the post office with biro (not a very advanced system!), hence it is
relatively easy to alter the writing on a stolen one. To renew your disc
each year you must prove you have a valid road worthiness certificate
('MOT' certificate) and valid insurance documents - without these no tax
disc. Certain people who believe that they are above the law, can't afford
the tax or insurance, can't be bothered to wait in line for the disc etc get
one by stealing from hapless soft top owners (easy targets) or others. It
is very easy for a passing copper to see if the disc is completely missing
(and to write out a ticket) but they would never read all the details
closely unless you were being investigated for something else. The fine for
not displaying a valid disc is GPB1000 I think. The fine for displaying one
fraudulently is probably a small telling off in court and a fine of about
GBP 2.50 (to be paid at 50p a week from the state hand out check) - sorry
that bit is sarcasm / irony in US speak!
Many people (including myself) think the disc should be made obsolete and
the tax revenue collected through a small increase in petrol prices (which
are already high enough over here), this way if you drive a car you pay.
Businesses argue that it unfairly penalises them as they do more miles. The
government argues there would be no easy was to ensure a vehicle had valid
insurance / roadworthiness. Seeing as the tax was originally introduced to
fund the maintenance and building of roads this seems OK to me.
Hope this makes thing clear
Pat
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kristi Richardson [SMTP:lytabyron@hotmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 3:36 PM
> To: OC@46thFoot.com; spitfires@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: The Thieves are Back
>
> To you UKers,
>
> I take it that a tax disc is something like a registration in the US?
>
> Since this is Tax day here, at first I thought it had something to do with
>
> your income taxes.
>
> What is the value of stealing a tax disc from a car?
>
> I am just a little confused.
>
> Kristi
>
>
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