Vehicle and Driving Licences Act 1969

11 Continuous liability for vehicle excise duty

(1) Subject to the provisions of this and the following section, a person who for any period keeps a vehicle in respect of which duty under the Act of 1962 has at any time become chargeable shall, whether or not it is still a mechanically propelled vehicle, be liable to pay duty under that Act in respect of the vehicle for that period.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this and the following section, a person shall not be liable by virtue of subsection (1) of this section to pay duty under the Act of 1962 in respect of a vehicle—

(a) for any period for which duty under that Act in respect of the vehicle has been paid and has not been repaid in consequence of the surrender of a licence ;

(b) for any period in respect of which he has, in accordance with regulations under the following section, given notice to the Minister that the vehicle will not be used or kept on a public road ;

(c) for any period when the vehicle is not a mechanically propelled vehicle and a notice stating that it has ceased to be such a vehicle has, in accordance with regulations under the following section, been given to the Minister and not revoked in pursuance of subsection (2) of that section;

(d) for any period when the vehicle is exempt from duty by virtue of section 6 of the Act of 1962 (except subsection (2) or subsection (5) of that section) or section 11 of the [1964 c. 49.] Finance Act 1964;

(e) for any period when he keeps the vehicle solely for the purpose of selling or supplying it in the course of his business as a motor dealer or using it under the authority of a trade licence in the course of his business as a motor trader within the meaning of section 12 of the Act of 1962 ;

(f) in the case of such a vehicle as is mentioned in paragraph (d) of section 2(1) of the Act of 1962 (which relates to seven day licences for certain heavy goods vehicles), for any period as respects which the Minister is satisfied that the vehicle has not been used or kept on a public road otherwise than as authorised by a seven day licence;

(g) for any period by reference to which there was calculated an amount ordered to be paid by him in respect of the vehicle in pursuance of section 12(1) of the [1967 c. 54.] Finance Act 1967 (under which an amount related to the period during which a vehicle was unlicensed is required to be paid by the keeper of the vehicle who is convicted of using it during that period).

(3) A person shall not by virtue of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section be exempt from his liability for any period under subsection (1) of this section in respect of a vehicle if—

(a) at any time during that period he or any other person with his consent uses or keeps the vehicle on a public road and no vehicle licence is in force for the vehicle at that time ; or

(b) after he has given notice under that paragraph in relation to the vehicle in respect of that period he applies for a vehicle licence for the vehicle to have effect on any day included in the first thirty days of that period;

and for the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subsection the consent there mentioned shall be presumed to have been given unless the contrary is shown but any use or keeping of the vehicle in question as respects which the vehicle is exempt by virtue of any enactment for the time being in force from duty under the Act of 1962 shall be disregarded.

(4) Sums payable in pursuance of this section by way of duty in respect of a vehicle shall accrue due from day to day at one three-hundred-and-sixty-fifth of the annual rate of duty applicable to the vehicle on that day.

(5) Without prejudice to any other mode of recovering sums payable by virtue of this section, where an application for a vehicle licence for twelve months or four months for a vehicle is made by a person by whom such sums are payable in respect of the vehicle and a licence other than a temporary licence is to be issued in pursuance of the application, the licence shall, if the Minister so directs, be made to have effect for a shorter period specified in the direction, being a period which is not less than thirty days and is such that the difference between the amount tendered in connection with the application and the amount chargeable upon the licence for the specified period does not exceed the aggregate amount of the sums aforesaid; and the amount so chargeable shall be equal to the number of days in the specified period multiplied by—

(a) where the application is for a licence for twelve months, one three-hundred-and-sixty-fifth of the annual rate of duty under the Act of 1962 payable in respect of the vehicle on the date of the application; and

(b) where the application is for a licence for four months, eleven three-thousand-six-hundred and fiftieths of that rate;

and where a licence is made to have effect for a specified period in pursuance of this subsection the aggregate amount of the sums aforesaid shall be treated as reduced by the difference aforesaid.