CAR TAX REFUND: The law says you must inform DVLA any time you:
- Sell or transfer your vehicle to someone else.
- Make a Statutory Off Road Notification to take the vehicle off the road (e.g. to store it in a garage).
- Have a vehicle written off by the insurer.
- Scrap your vehicle at an approved treatment facility scrapyard.
- Take a vehicle out of the UK as a ‘permanent export‘.
- Have the vehicle stolen or you register it as exempt when you change vehicle tax class.
Once the vehicle tax gets cancelled you can apply for a refund on any full months that remain. But, the first step is informing DVLA when the vehicle is off the road or when you do not have it any longer.
Note: These are the only valid reasons to cancel vehicle tax and reclaim unused road tax from the DVLA.
After You Cancel Car Tax at DVLA
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will cancel your vehicle road tax. They make an automatic cancellation to payments if you pay road tax by Direct Debit. Thus, there is no need to cancel car tax Direct Debit online.
Car Tax Refund Calculator
The DVLA also send an automatic cheque refund for any full months remaining on your vehicle tax. They use a car tax refund calculator to determine the amount. It gets calculated from the date they receive your tax cancellation.
Note: DVLA make the cheque payable to the name on the vehicle log book and send it to the registered address.
A car tax refund does not apply to:
- Any fees charged to a credit card.
- The surcharge fee of 5% applied to some vehicle tax Direct Debit payments.
- The surcharge fee of 10% related to the single 6 month payment.
First Tax Payment Refund
The amount that you can get back is based on the lower of:
- The first tax payment when you registered the vehicle.
- The rate for the second tax payment onwards.
As a rule it will take up to 6 weeks to get the car tax refund cheque. Contact Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea if the refund of road tax does not come through.
Return the refund cheque to DVLA if the name is wrong. Send extra details to inform them the correct name for the replacement. It usually takes up to four weeks for them to return the amended cheque.
Refund Section
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1AL
Security Alert DVLA Vehicle Tax Refund (phishing)
Beware of a road tax fund Internet phishing scam not sent by DVLA. The fake email would read something like:
We would like to notify you that you still have an outstanding refund of car tax for £198.75 from an overpayment. Refunds are time limited, please use the link below to complete your refund now.