I received a fine in the post a few weeks ago of £80 (reduced to £40 if I pay within 4 weeks) for not taxing a car that I didn’t own.

I sold my Porsche to a dealer in October of last year and duly sent of my part of the registration document to the DVLA to inform them of this the very same day.

For whatever reason this was not processed and the fine was issued. I never received a reminder to tax the car and never thought any else of it. Big mistake. When I wrote back to the DVLA on receiving the fine enclosing a copy of the slip I had kept I was told I would still have to pay the fine.

Apparently it is my own fault for not making a note in my diary for 4 weeks time to contact them if I didn’t receive a letter from them thanking me for telling them I no longer owned the car.

Even if I had sent the slip by special delivery and had proof that they had received it, if for whatever reason they didn’t action it I would still be liable.

I’m starting to think the Government has these systems in place as an additional revenue stream. They can’t raise enough tax in the usual way so they dream up other ways of doing it.

Last year I was fined £100 for supposedly not getting my tax return in on time even though when I rang them they admitted I had and couldn’t understand why I had been fined.

Is it any wonder I don’t trust our Government or their departments?

Posted in Rants & Raves