Insurance needed to buy tax

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Thu 19 Aug 2004 08:06
Insurance needed to buy tax - Ben79
Why do we need to produce insurance certificates in order to tax a vehicle?

Surely the DVLA can look at the database to see who is insured.

When the MOTs are put on a database, we would in theory have enough data to enable tax discs to be bought by phone/net without needing to send documents.

Also, why does the relicencing form need to have so many colours on it. I cannot see any forgery prevention in the paper, so why not save some money and just print in black and white?

Come on guys, lets save some money and make the process more efficient. But I suppose, by needing to find documents etc it increases the chance of someone paying late, oops thats another fine for you sir? Stealth taxes from motorists? No way, we are just a piggy bank.
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Thu 19 Aug 2004 08:36
Insurance needed to buy tax - Cliff Pope
The usual sequence of events with any government-run scheme is:
1) we have an old pen and ink system for year that works well but finally can't cope with life in the modern world.
2) they move to a slightly more modern, but already out of date, system, using a lot of coloured bits of paper, tear-off strips, forms, back-up forms, etc. It is operated through the Post Office, so needless to say is inefficient, involves endless queuing, and is staffed by people who like to say no.
That is where we are now with road tax.
3) they make a sudden jump to the most complicated computerised system in the world. They pay far too much to a slick-talking computer company, but try to run it themselves with a lot of clods who don't understand it. After much delay the scheme is finally wheeled out, and crashes. It becomes impossible to pay pensions, benefits, tax your car, etc, so they introduce emergency (ie old pen and ink technology) to try to clear the backlog. They grant a tax amnesty so that the nation can carry on getting to work.
About a year and billions of wasted pounds later the new system finally works, after a fashion.
4) An enquiry severely critices the whole scheme.
5) they look for the next thing to repeat the fisaco with.
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