Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971

10 Continuous liability for duty

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and of section 11 of this Act, a person who for any period keeps a vehicle in respect of which duty under this Act has at any time become chargeable shall, whether or not it is still a mechanically propelled vehicle, be liable to pay duty under this Act in respect of the vehicle for that period.

(2) Subject as aforesaid, a person shall not be liable by virtue of subsection (1) above to pay duty under this Act in respect of a vehicle—

(a) for any period for which duty under this Act in respect of the vehicle has been paid and has not been repaid in consequence of the surrender of a licence ;

(b) for any period in respect of which he has, in accordance with regulations under section 11 of this Act, given notice to the Secretary of State that the vehicle will not be used or kept on a public road ;

(c) for any period when the vehicle is not a mechanically propelled vehicle and a notice stating that it has ceased to be such a vehicle has, in accordance with regulations under section 11 of this Act, been given to the Secretary of State and not revoked in pursuance of subsection (2) of that section ;

(d) for any period when the vehicle is exempt from duty by virtue of section 4 or 6 or section 7 (except subsection (3)) of this Act;

(e) for any period when he keeps the vehicle solely for the purpose of selling or supplying it in the course of his business as a motor dealer or using it under the authority of a trade licence in the course of his business as a motor trader within the meaning of section 16 of this Act;

(f) in the case of such a vehicle as is mentioned in paragraph (c) of section 2(1) of this Act, for any period as respects which the Secretary of State is satisfied that the vehicle has not been used or kept on a public road otherwise than as authorised by a seven day licence;

(g) for any period by reference to which there was calculated an amount ordered to be paid by him in respect of the vehicle in pursuance of section 9(1) of this Act.

(3) A person shall not by virtue of subsection (2)(b) above be exempt from his liability for any period under subsection (1) above in respect of a vehicle if—

(a) at any time during that period he or any other person with his consent uses or keeps the vehicle on a public road and no vehicle licence is in force for the vehicle at that time; or

(b) after he has given notice under the said subsection (2)(b) in relation to the vehicle in respect of that period he applies for a vehicle licence for the vehicle to have effect on any day included in the first thirty days of that period;

and for the purposes of paragraph (a) above the consent there mentioned shall be presumed to have been given unless the contrary is shown, but any use or keeping of the vehicle in question as respects which the vehicle is exempt by virtue of any enactment for the time being in force from duty under this Act shall be disregarded.

(4) Sums payable in pursuance of this section by way of duty in respect of a vehicle shall accrue due from day to day at one three-hundred-and-sixty-fifth of the annual rate of duty applicable to the vehicle on that day.

(5) Without prejudice to any other mode of recovering sums payable by virtue of this section, where an application for a vehicle licence for twelve months or four months for a vehicle is made by a person by whom such sums are payable in respect of the vehicle and a vehicle licence other than a temporary licence is to be issued in pursuance of the application, the licence shall, if the Secretary of State so directs but subject to subsection (6) below, be made to have effect for a shorter period specified in the direction, being a period which is not less than thirty days and is such that the difference between the amount tendered in connection with the application and the amount chargeable upon the licence for the specified period does not exceed the aggregate amount of the sums aforesaid; and the amount so chargeable shall be equal to the number of days in the specified period multiplied by—

(a) where 'the application is for a licence for twelve months, one three-hundred-and-sixty-fifth of the annual rate of duty under this Act payable in respect of the vehicle on the date of the application ; and

(b) where the application is for a licence for four months, eleven three-thousand-six-hundred-and-fiftieths of that rate;

and where a licence is made to have effect for a specified period in pursuance of this subsection the aggregate amount of the sums aforesaid shall be treated as reduced by the difference aforesaid.

(6) A person to whom a licence is issued for a period specified in a direction under subsection (5) above may appeal to the county court, or in Scotland by way of summary application to the sheriff, on the ground that the Secretary of State was not authorised by that subsection to give the direction.