Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971

7 (1) This paragraph and paragraph 8 below apply to agricultural machines which do not draw trailers.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph and the said paragraph 8, a vehicle to which this paragraph applies shall not be chargeable with duty by virtue of this Schedule by reason of the fact that it is constructed or adapted for use and used for the conveyance of such goods or burden as are hereinafter mentioned if they are carried in or on not more than one appliance, the appliance is fitted either to the front or to the back of the vehicle and the following conditions are satisfied:—

(a) the appliance must be removable ;

(b) the area of the horizontal plane enclosed by vertical lines passing through the outside edges of the appliance must not, when the appliance is in the position in which it is carried when the vehicle is travelling and the appliance is loaded, exceed 7 square feet if it is carried at the front or 15 square feet if it is carried at the back.

(3) The goods or burden referred to in the foregoing sub-paragraph are any goods or burden the haulage of which is permissible under paragraph 2(1)(a) to (e) of Schedule 3 to this Act.

(4) The foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to the use of a vehicle on a public road more than 15 miles from a farm in the occupation of the person in whose name the vehicle is registered under this Act.

(5) The foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to three-wheeled vehicles, or to any vehicle such that the distance between the centre of the area of contact with the road surface of—

(a) a back wheel, in a case where only one appliance is being used for the carriage of goods or burden, and is fitted to the back of the vehicle,

(b) any wheel on one side of the vehicle, in any other case,

and that of the nearest wheel on the other side is less than 4 feet.

(6) For the purposes of this paragraph a vehicle having two wheels at the front shall, if the distance between them (measured between the centres of their respective areas of contact with the road) is less than 18 inches, be treated as a three-wheeled vehicle.