Bike tax evasion falls, says DfT
Added on Friday, December 16th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Bike tax evasion falls, says DfT
The number of motorcyclists avoiding road tax has fallen, according to the Department for Transport, with just 2.1% of bikes on the road currently being ridden without a tax disc.
The figure represents a drop from 3% last year, according to the DfT, although the figure is still significantly higher than other classes of vehicle.
The DfT claims that 0.7% of private and light goods vehicles, including cars, are evading vehicle excise duty (VED), compared to 0.4% of goods vehicles and 0.1% of buses.
Back in 2007, the DfT claimed that as many as 6.2% of motorcycles were evading road tax, a figure that was widely criticised by biking groups amid suggestions that the government did not properly take into account the number of bikers that legitimately un-tax and take their vehicles off-road during the winter months.
That figure has since fallen, with this year’s figure beating the previous five-year low of 2.4%, set in 2008.
Of those motorcycles found to be evading VED, 31% of were observed on the road whilst declared as off the road via a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN). Nine per cent of offenders were observed after the keeper had previously paid the required VED before later claiming a refund.
The DfT also claimed that 48% of those motorcycles observed without VED had not been licenced for at least a year. The equivalent figure for private and light good vehicles was just 11%.
In monetary terms, the DfT puts the cost of VED evasion to the treasury at £40m (down from £46m last year), with untaxed motorcycles making up £2m of that figure.
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