Re: taxes

["Mark N. Pacey" <M.N.Pacey@sheffield.ac.uk>]

The Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency would have us believe that 
anything up to 30% or so of the vehicles on the road are untaxed.  
The problem is catching the present owner of the car.  When a car is 
sold the vendor sends a slip in to the DVLA to say that they have 
sold the car.  It is then up to the new owner to send in their name 
and address and register as the new keeper.  So when PC Plod sees a 
car parked on the street (and it must be on the public highway for 
tax to be required in the first place) and sees it isn't taxed he 
notes the registration number and carries on his way.  DVLA then say 
"Oh dear, we appear not to have a registered keeper for that vehicle" 
and there is no way of finding at the person who actually owns the 
thing to get them to pay.  So to catch people and successfully 'do' 
them for evasion of road tax is very difficult.

Mark