1st October 2024 marks 10 years since vehicle tax discs were abolished. To mark the anniversary, we take a look back at the peculiar little paper circles that the law said must adorn our windscreens.
It's only 10 years, so most readers will have some memory of tax discs. They were, as the name suggests, circular documents, about 75mm in diameter, that provided visual evidence of the Vehicle Excise Duty (colloquially "road tax") status of the vehicle displaying the disc.
Our collective relationship with these little paper circles was somewhat ambivalent: many people hated them and the tax expense they represented. They hated the fact that it was fiddly to remove the perforated disc from its parent sheet without tearing it; they hated the tax disc holder that would never stay stuck to the windscreen and they hated their neighbour who would helpfully point out that their tax disc expired last month. Other people found tax discs fascinating and actually started collecting them; but more on that later.
The origins of Vehicle Excise Duty and the tax disc
The first vehicle tax was introduced in 1888 or 1889 (sources differ), so the government didn't waste any time creating a car-related revenue stream. Of course, the new mode of transportation was going to require a lot of expansive road development in the coming years. In 1920, the vehicle tax arrangement was modified so that money from car taxation was dedicated specifically to road development. That exclusive use of car tax continued until 1934, when the ringfencing ended and the revenue went into the larger tax pot.
The tangible vehicle licence, better known as the tax disc, was introduced at the beginning of 1921. It was, in effect, a receipt showing that the vehicle licence fee had been paid.
Evolution
Although the basic circular shape remained until the tax disc was abolished in 2014, a number of iterations made significant changes to the original format.
The 1920s
- Colour print on tax discs was introduced in 1923.
- In 1924, discs began to carry advertisements on the reverse side. This was discontinued in 1926. Subsequently, the back of the tax disc featured information about claiming a refund for car tax that had been paid and was still current, but which wasn't needed.
The 1930s
- In 1938, perforations were introduced to make it easier for users to detach the disc shape from its parent sheet in a form that would fit tax disk holders.
The 1940s
- In 1942 the use of perforation on tax discs was suspended, probably as a consequence of resource and machinery appropriation for the Second World War.
The 1950s
- In 1952 the use of perforations was resumed.
The 1960s
- 1961 saw some important changes. The print design was revised in order to make it more difficult to counterfeit the tax disc. The same year, instead of the previous arrangement where tax discs always expired in December, a monthly system was introduced, giving more flexibility. Henceforth, the expiry date of the disc would depend on the month in which the tax had been paid.
The 1970s
- In 1978, the prominent expiry date on the tax disc moved to a digital format. From that point until the tax disc was abolished, the month and year would be in numerical digits, rather than using the month abbreviation (Jan, Feb etc) that had previously appeared.
The 2000s
- In 2001 tax discs began to bear watermarks and to be embossed. Both measures made it much more difficult to produce convincing counterfeit discs.
- In 2003, barcodes on tax discs were introduced. Again this measure made it more difficult to produce bogus discs. The connection between car and disc was now more easily verified, and the administrative job of renewing vehicle tax was also made easier.
The 2010s
- Tax discs were abolished in 2014. From 1 October 2024, there was no requirement to display a tax disc, even if a vehicle's disc was still current. The UK's last tax discs expired on 30 September 2015.
Gone but not forgotten
You might think that most people would have been happy to see the back of tax discs, or rather they would be happy not to see the back of a tax disk while they were driving. Whatever, their passing into obscurity did not seem to be widely lamented.
As we all know, people will collect just about anything. Think of a thing and the chances are that someone, somewhere has an extensive collection. If the thing you thought of has anything to do with dogs, Star Wars or cars then it's likely that loads of people have collections. This even applies to tax discs.
The study and collection of tax discs is called velology. The term was contrived by combining the initials VEL (for Vehicle Excise Licence) with the familiar "ology" suffix. People buy and sell original tax discs on eBay. Their value is dependent on the year, the rarity and the condition.
Even now, a decade after tax discs were last issued, you will find tax disc holders for sale online. In some cases these are described as "permit holders" but there's no mistaking their heritage. Perhaps even more surprising is the availability of reproduction tax discs to be used as novelty reminders of when your tax is due for renewal. These faithful reproductions of tax discs from various eras can be inserted into your "permit holder" and displayed on your windscreen to remind you and amuse your neighbours.
Many, if not most, of us used to complain about tax discs when they were here but, somehow, we just can't quite let them go.
