Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 (Repealed 1.9.1994)

38 Interpretation. E+W+S

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

• [F1 “community bus” means a vehicle used on public roads solely in accordance with a community bus permit (within the meaning of section 22 of the Transport Act M1 1985), and not used for providing a service under an agreement providing for service subsidies (within the meaning of section 63(10)(b) of that Act);]

• [F2 “conditional sale agreement” means an agreement for the sale of a vehicle under which the purchase price or part of it is payable by instalments, and the property in the vehicle is to remain in the seller (notwithstanding that the buyer is to be in possession of the vehicle) until such conditions as to the payment of instalments or otherwise as may be specified in the agreement are fulfilled;]

• “gas” means any fuel which is wholly gaseous at a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit under a pressure of 30 inches of mercury;

• [F3 “hackney carriage” means a mechanically propelled vehicle standing or plying for hire and includes any mechanically propelled vehicle bailed or (in Scotland) hired under a hire agreement by a person whose trade it is to sell such vehicles or bail or hire them under hire agreements [F4 but does not include a community bus]];

• [F5 “hire agreement” means an agreement for the bailment or (in Scotland) the hiring of a vehicle which is not a hire-purchase agreement;

• “hire-purchase agreement” means an agreement, other than a conditional sale agreement, under which—

(a) a vehicle is bailed or (in Scotland) hired in return for periodical payments by the person to whom it is bailed or hired, and

(b) the property in the vehicle will pass to that person if the terms of the agreement are complied with and one or more of the following occurs—

(i) the exercise of an option to purchase by that person,

(ii) the doing of any other specified act by any party to the agreement,

(iii) the happening of any other specified event;]

• “licence” means a vehicle licence or a trade licence;

• “motor dealer” means a person carrying on the business of selling or supplying mechanically propelled vehicles;

• “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State;

• “public road” means a road which is repairable at the public expense [F6 except that in Scotland it has the same meaning as in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.];

• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F7

• “temporary licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 13(1) of this Act;

• “trade licence” means a licence issued under section 16(1) of this Act; and

• “transfer date” has the same meaning as in the M2 Vehicle and Driving Licences Act 1969, that is to say, such date as the Secretary of State may by order appoint for the purposes of section 1(1) of that Act;

• “vehicle licence” means a licence under this Act for a mechanically propelled vehicle.

(2) For the purposes of any provision of this Act and any subsequent enactment relating to the keeping of mechanically propelled vehicles on public roads, a person keeps such a vehicle on a public road if he causes it to be on such a road for any period, however short, when it is not in use there.

(3) A mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be treated as an electrically propelled vehicle for the purposes of this Act unless the electrical motive power is derived either from a source external to the vehicle or from any electrical storage battery which is not connected to any source of power when the vehicle is in motion.

F8 (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(5) The unit of horse-power or cylinder capacity for the purposes of any rate of duty under this Act shall be calculated in accordance with regulations under this Act.

(6) References in this Act to any enactment shall be construed, unless the context otherwise requires, as references to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment.

Textual Amendments

F1 Definition inserted by Finance Act 1989 (c. 26, SIF 107:2), s. 7(2)

F2 Definition inserted by Consumer Credit Act 1974 (c. 39), s. 192(4), Sch. 4 para. 32(1)

F3 Definition substituted by Consumer Credit Act 1974 (c. 39), s. 192(4), Sch. 4 para. 32(2)

F4 Words added by Finance Act 1989 (c. 26, SIF 107:2), s. 7(3)

F5 Definitions inserted by Consumer Credit Act 1974 (c. 39), s. 192(4), Sch. 4 para. 32(3)

F6 Words added (S.) by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), s. 156(1), Sch. 9 para. 67

F7 Definition repealed by Finance Act 1988 (c. 39, SIF 107:2), s. 148, Sch. 14 Pt. II

F8 S. 38(4) repealed (20.03.1991) by Finance Act 1991 (c. 31, SIF 107:2), s. 123, Sch. 19, Pt. III, Note 3.

Marginal Citations

M1 1985 c.67 (126).

M2 1969 c. 27.