Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 (Repealed 1.9.1994)

Excise duty on, and licensing of, mechanically propelled vehicles

Charge of duty

1

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a duty of excise shall be charged in respect of every mechanically propelled vehicle used or kept on any public road in Great Britain and shall be paid upon a licence to be taken out by the person keeping the vehicle.

• (2) The duty chargeable under this section in respect of a vehicle of any description shall be chargeable by reference to the annual rate applicable in accordance with the provisions of that one of the first five Schedules to this Act which relates to vehicles of that description.

• (3) For the purposes of the said duty, in so far as chargeable in respect of the keeping of a vehicle on a road, a vehicle shall be deemed—

• (a) to be chargeable with the like duty as on the occasion of the issue of the vehicle licence or last vehicle licence issued for the vehicle under this Act, and to be so chargeable by reference to the rate specified in the same Schedule to this Act as on that occasion, or

• (b) if no vehicle licence has been issued for the vehicle under this Act, to be chargeable by reference to the rate applicable to it under Schedule 5 to this Act.

• (4) Nothing in this section shall operate so as to render lawful the keeping of a vehicle for any period, in any manner or at any place, if to do so would be unlawful apart from this section.

Commencement and duration of licences, and rate of duty

2

• (1) A vehicle licence may be taken out—

• (a) in the case of any vehicle, for any period of twelve months;

• (b) in the case of any vehicle the annual rate of duty applicable to which exceeds £8, for any period of four months,

• (c) in the case of a goods vehicle which is authorised to be used on roads by virtue of an order made under section 64(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1960, and the unladen weight of which exceeds eleven tons, for any period of seven consecutive days (such a licence being hereafter in this Act referred to as a " seven day licence ");

and shall, subject to the provisions of section 13 of this Act, first have effect on the day specified by the applicant in the application for the licence.

• (2) A licence for a period of four months shall expire with such day in the fourth month after that in which the licence first has effect as corresponds to the day preceding that on which it first has effect, so however that a licence for that period shall—

• (a) if it first has effect on the first day of a month, expire with the last day of the third month after that month ; and

• (b) if it first has effect on 30th or 31st October, expire with the last day of the following February.

• (3) A licence which first has effect before the day on which it is issued shall not affect any criminal liability incurred before that day.

• (4) The duty payable on a vehicle licence for a vehicle of any description shall—

• (a) if the licence is taken out for a period of twelve months, be paid at the annual rate of duty applicable to vehicles of that description;

• (b) if the licence is taken out for a period of four months, be paid at a rate equal to eleven thirtieths of the said annual rate;

• (c) if the licence is taken out for a period of seven days, be paid at a rate equal to one fifty-second of the said annual rate plus ten per cent, of that amount;

and in computing the rate of duty in accordance with paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) above, any fraction of 5p shall be treated as 5p if it exceeds 2-5p and shall otherwise be disregarded.

• (5) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Secretary of State may, during the period of two years beginning with the day when this subsection first takes effect, provide by regulations that, in such cases as may be determined by or under the regulations, the duration of a licence taken out after the coming into force of the regulations shall be longer or shorter, by such period not exceeding thirty days as may be so determined, than its duration would have been apart from the regulations; and where the duration of a licence is altered by virtue of this subsection the duty payable upon the licence shall be increased or reduced proportionately.

• (6) At the expiration of the period of two years mentioned in subsection (5) above that subsection shall cease to have effect, but without prejudice to any licence issued or any payment made or falling to be made by virtue of any regulations in force under that subsection immediately before the expiration of that period.

Collection of duty, etc.

3

• (1) The duty chargeable under this Act shall be levied by the Secretary of State.

• (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act the Secretary of State and his officers (including any body or person authorised by the Secretary of State to act as his agent for the purposes of this Act) shall have for the purpose of levying the duty aforesaid the same powers, duties and liabilities as the Commissioners of Customs and Excise and their officers have with respect to duties of excise and to the issue and cancellation of licences on which duties of excise are imposed and to other matters under the Acts relating to duties of excise and excise licences ; and, subject to those provisions and in particular to section 28 or 29 and to section 35(3) of this Act, all enactments relating to those duties and to punishments and penalties in connection therewith shall apply accordingly.

• (3) Without prejudice to subsection (2) above, the Secretary of State shall, with respect to the duty of excise chargeable under this Act and the excise licences provided for thereby, have the powers given to the said Commissioners by the Acts relating to duties of excise and excise licences for the restoration of any forfeiture and the mitigation or remission of any penalty or part thereof.

• (4) The duty levied by the Secretary of State under this Act shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

• (5) Any sums received by the Secretary of State by virtue of this Act by way of fees shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

Exemptions from duty

Exemptions from duty of certain descriptions of vehicle

4

• (1) No duty shall be chargeable under this Act in respect of mechanically propelled vehicles of any of the following descriptions, that is to say—

• (a) fire engines;

• (b) vehicles kept by a local authority while they are used or kept on a road for the purposes of their fire brigade service ;

• (c) ambulances;

• (d) road rollers;

• (e) vehicles used on tram lines, not being tramcars used for the conveyance of passengers ;

• (f) vehicles used or kept on a road for no purpose other than the haulage of lifeboats and the conveyance of the necessary gear of the lifeboats which are being hauled;

• (g) vehicles (including cycles with an attachment for propelling them by mechanical power) which do not exceed eight hundredweight in weight unladen and are adapted, and used or kept on a road, for invalids;

• (h) road construction vehicles used or kept on a road solely for the conveyance of built-in road construction machinery (with or without articles or material used for the purposes of that machinery);

• (i) vehicles constructed or adapted, and used, solely for the conveyance of machinery for spreading material on roads to deal with frost, ice or snow or for the conveyance of such machinery and articles and material used for the purposes of that machinery;

• (j) local authority's watering vehicles ;

• (k) tower wagons used solely by a street lighting authority, or by any person acting in pursuance of a contract with such an authority, for the purpose of installing or maintaining materials or apparatus for lighting streets, roads or public places.

• (2) In this section—

• " road construction vehicle " means a vehicle constructed or adapted for use for the conveyance of built-in road construction machinery and not constructed or adapted for the conveyance of any other load except articles and material used for the purposes of that machinery;

• " road construction machinery " means a machine or contrivance suitable for use for the construction or repair of roads and used for no purpose other than the construction or repair of roads at the public expense;

• " built-in road construction machinery ", in relation to a vehicle, means road construction machinery built in as part of the vehicle or permanently attached thereto ;

• " local authority's watering vehicle " means a vehicle used solely within the area of a local authority by that local authority, or by any person acting in pursuance of a contract with that local authority, for the purpose of cleansing or watering roads or cleansing gulleys;

• " tower wagon " has the same meaning as in Schedule 4 to this Act;

• " street lighting authority " means any local authority or Minister having power under any enactment to provide or maintain materials or apparatus for lighting streets, roads or public places.

Exemptions from duty in connection with vehicle testing, etc.

5

• (1) A mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act by reason of its use on public roads—

• (a) solely for the purpose of submitting it by previous arrangement for a specified time on a specified date for, or bringing it away from, a compulsory test; or

• (b) in the course of a compulsory test, solely for the purpose of taking it to, or bringing it away from, any place where a part of the test is to be or, as the case may be, has been carried out, or of carrying out any part of the test, the person so using it being an authorised person; or

• (c) where the relevant certificate is refused on a compulsory test, solely for the purpose of delivering it by previous arrangement for a specified time on a specified date at a place where work is to be done on it to remedy the defects on the ground of which the certificate was refused, or bringing it away from a place where work has been done on it to remedy such defects.

• (2) In paragraph (c) above the reference to work done or to be done on the vehicle to remedy the defects there mentioned is, in a case where the relevant certificate which is refused is a test certificate, a reference to work done or to be done to remedy those defects for a further compulsory test and includes, in a case where the relevant certificate which is refused is a goods vehicle test certificate, type approval certificate or Minister's approval certificate, a reference to work done or to be done to alter the vehicle in some aspect of design, construction, equipment or marking on account of which the certificate was refused.

• (3) In this section—

• " compulsory test " means an examination under section 65 of the Road Traffic Act 1960 with a view to obtaining a test certificate without which a vehicle licence cannot be granted for the vehicle under this Act or, in the case of a goods vehicle for which by virtue of section 14(9) of the Road Safety Act 1967 a vehicle licence cannot be so granted, an examination under regulations under section 9 or for the purposes of section 10 of that Act (examinations as to a goods vehicle's compliance with construction and use or type approval requirements respectively) or an examination under regulations under section 13(1) (a) of that Act (in connection with alterations to goods vehicles subject to type approval requirements) or for the purposes of section 12 of that Act (appeals);

• " the relevant certificate " means a test certificate as defined in subsection (2) of the said section 65, a goods vehicle test certificate as defined in the said section 9, a type approval certificate or a Minister's approval certificate as defined in the said section 10;

• " authorised person " in the case of a compulsory test under the said section 65 means a person authorised as an examiner or appointed as an inspector under that section or acting on behalf of a person so authorised, or a person acting under the personal direction of such a person as aforesaid; and in the case of any other compulsory test means a goods vehicle examiner or a person carrying out the test under his direction or a person driving the vehicle in pursuance of a requirement to do so under regulations under which the compulsory test is carried out;

• " goods vehicle examiner " means an examiner appointed under section 183 of the said Act of 1960 or a certifying officer appointed under Pact III of that Act.

Exemptions from duty in respect of vehicles acquired by overseas residents

6

• (1) A mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act if purchase tax in respect of the vehicle is remitted under section 23 of the Purchase Tax Act 1963 (remission of tax on exported vehicles) on the ground that the vehicle has been acquired from its manufacturer by a person who is an overseas resident; but if at any time purchase tax becomes payable in respect of that vehicle under section 9 of the Finance Act 1967 (purchase tax payable where conditions of remission broken), or would have become so payable but for any authorisation or waiver under subsection (1) of the said section 9, then the provisions of subsection (3) below shall apply in relation to that vehicle.

• (2) Where in the case of any mechanically propelled vehicle it is shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State—

• (a) that the vehicle is not chargeable with purchase tax; and

• (b) that the vehicle is being acquired from a person who is for the time being registered as a manufacturer of such vehicles by the Secretary of State and who is the manufacturer of the vehicle for the purposes of that register; and

• (c) that the person so acquiring the vehicle would fall to be treated as an overseas resident for the purposes of the said section 23,

the Secretary of State may exempt the vehicle from duty under this Act for a period of twelve months subject to specified conditions, being such conditions as the Secretary of State may from time to time think necessary for the protection of the revenue; but if at any time during those twelve months any of the conditions subject to which the exemption is granted is not complied with, the provisions of subsection (3) below shall apply in relation to the vehicle.

• (3) Where under subsection (1) or (2) above the provisions of this subsection are to apply in relation to a vehicle, the vehicle shall be deemed never to have been exempted from duty under the said subsection (1) or (2) and, without prejudice to the provisions of section 9 of this Act, unless, or except to the extent that, the Secretary of State sees fit to waive payment of the whole or part of the duty, there shall be recoverable by the Secretary of State as a debt due to him—

• (a) from the person by whom the vehicle was acquired from its manufacturer, the duty in respect of the whole period since the registration of the vehicle; or

• (b) from any other person who is for the time being the keeper of the vehicle, the duty in respect of the period since the vehicle was first kept by that other person,

other than any part of that period by reference to which there was calculated an amount ordered to be paid by the person in question in respect of the vehicle in pursuance of section 9(1) of this Act.

Miscellaneous exemptions from duty

7

• (1) If an applicant for a vehicle licence satisfies the Secretary of State that the vehicle is intended to be used on public roads—

• (a) only in passing from land in his occupation to other land in his occupation, and

• (b) for distances not exceeding in the aggregate six miles in any calendar week,

then, with the consent of the Treasury, the Secretary of State may exempt the vehicle from the duty chargeable under this Act in respect of the use of the vehicle on roads ; but if a vehicle so exempted is used on public roads otherwise than for the purpose or to the extent specified above, the vehicle shall cease to be exempted.

• (2) A mechanically propelled vehicle fitted with controls enabling it to be driven by persons having a particular disability, and registered in the name of such a person under this Act, shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act by reason of its use by or for the purposes of that person, or by reason of its being kept for such use, where—

• (a) he caused the controls to be fitted to the vehicle and obtained in respect of the cost thereby incurred a grant paid by the Secretary of State out of moneys provided by Parliament; or

• (b) whether or not he caused the controls to be fitted to the vehicle, his disability is of a kind in the case of which grants in respect of the fitting of such controls are so paid.

• (3) A mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act by reason of its use for clearing snow from public roads by means of a snow plough or similar contrivance, whether forming part of the vehicle or not, or by reason of its being kept for such use or by reason of its use for the purpose of going to or from the place where it is to be used for clearing snow from public roads by those means.

• (4) Regulations under this Act may provide that, in such cases and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, a mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act by reason of any use made of it for the purpose of a public or local authority's functions in connection with civil defence as defined in the Civil Defence Act 1948, or by reason of its being kept on a road for any such use, or both.

• (5) Regulations under this Act may provide for the total or partial exemption for a limited period from the duty chargeable under this Act of any mechanically propelled vehicles for the time being licensed under section 1 or 10 of the Vehicles (Excise) Act (Northern Ireland) 1954; and, without prejudice to section 37(1) of this Act, regulations made under this subsection may—

• (a) make different provision in relation to vehicles of different descriptions;

• (b) provide that any exemption conferred by the regulations in respect of any vehicle shall have effect subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.

Liability to pay duty and consequences of non-payment thereof

Using and keeping vehicles without a licence

8

• (1) If any person uses or keeps on a public road any mechanically propelled vehicle for which a licence is not in force, not being a vehicle exempted from duty under this Act by virtue of any enactment (including any provision of this Act), he shall be liable to the greater of the following penalties, namely—