View Full Version : 4 in 10 bikers dodge road tax
ranathari
22-01-08, 07:47 AM
BBC article over here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7200066.stm).
I'm surprised to find out that it's only 4 in 10 and not higher, given how easy it is to avoid being nicked when you're on a bike and how many weekend riders there are.
Anyone here willing to 'fess up to not paying? Given how cheap tax is for a bike, I've always paid out!
tigersaw
22-01-08, 08:12 AM
I've never personally known of anyone who avoids bike tax - 4 out of 10 sounds high to me. However, the cost should have a revamp to put it in proportion - my bike tax is nearly twice that of my car.
DarrenSV650S
22-01-08, 08:21 AM
Anyone here willing to 'fess up to not paying?
Yes officer, please arrest me:rolleyes:
4 in 10 does sound high to me. Can't think why anyone would risk it for such a small amount.
How do they actually know how many bikes are avoiding it anyway?
the_lone_wolf
22-01-08, 08:40 AM
there was a thread about this a while ago, they estimate the number, they'd have to, they know how many were taxed but how do they know how many motorcycles are being used on the road? whether their methodology was sound i don't know...
next time there's a good crowd down the seafront i'll do a cursory look around, but 40% sounds far higher than what i'd expect...
ThEGr33k
22-01-08, 08:41 AM
Does sound a lot off... though there are people riding without a license or insurance and you need the latter at least for Tax. If they made Insurance cheaper :cheers:. Solve everyones problems!
Surely to avoid tax the bike would have to not be registered to you.....or i supposed SORN.
Would never even consider it to be honest, for a cost that is so minimal in comparison to all other costs why the hell would you not pay it.
ranathari
22-01-08, 09:01 AM
Ah ****, I meant to put this thread in the general bike banter forum, not the SV-specific one. Sorry.
I've never personally known of anyone who avoids bike tax - 4 out of 10 sounds high to me. However, the cost should have a revamp to put it in proportion - my bike tax is nearly twice that of my car.
How is your car tax half your bike tax? I thought car tax started at around £100 whereas bike tax only goes up to about £70.
timwilky
22-01-08, 09:18 AM
I would also suspect that a large percentage of these are also the peds that get distributed amongst 16 year old, who own them long enough for them to sell onto their mates.
There seems little point in the owners registering and taxing them as they only seem to have them for a fortnight before they are on another.
How is your car tax half your bike tax? I thought car tax started at around ?100 whereas bike tax only goes up to about ?70.
A large proportion of new cars fall into the ?35 a year road tax bracket due to emmision, also all congestion charge exempt cars are ?35 a year
My missus Mini Cooper D is only ?35 a year.....70+mpg on the motorway aswell.
I'm surprised its so high... as without tax your insurance is invalid... plus I thought with the with new computer system they just need to check your number plate to confirm that there is no tax.
Biker Biggles
22-01-08, 09:33 AM
Another made up statistic bandied about as incontravertable fact prior to another round of attacks on bikers generally.Lets take an unpopular minority,make up some slanderous nonsense about them,then harrass them to take peoples minds off whats really going wrong with our country.
Surely to avoid tax the bike would have to not be registered to you.....or i supposed SORN.
ANPR would flag you up pretty quickly if any vehicle was SORN'd, or in fact, if a vehicle didn't have tax & was on the road. Most traffic cars - the ones fitted with VASCAR - also have ANPR around these parts.
Registering to a different address (other than your own) would still land the registered owner in trouble (there's other means to get your address than just the vehicle documents - you have a licence don't you?).
Personally, £120 ish for the year, it's not worth the risk trying to avoid it.
The only thing I've done is not displayed tax. It was under the pillion seat. Still an offence though.
Which bikes are ?120 a year I though everything over 600cc was ?64 and that was the highest it went?
Which bikes are ?120 a year I though everything over 600cc was ?64 and that was the highest it went?
I thought it was £120 for the year, ?60 ish for 6 months. That's what I remember from last time I taxed the SV (needs doing again next month actually).
Could be wrong though.
EDIT: My bad, just looked at the DVLA site, and it's ?64 for the year... could of sworn I paid ?120... Ho hum.
i be-grudge paying tax for the bike, as i dont use it much in the winter, and only use it 1-2 times a week in the nicer weather, plus its kept in my garage. and the state of the roads are $hite
i have thought about not taxing it, as its only a fine (i think)
but to answer the questoin.......... i have tax
ranathari
22-01-08, 10:20 AM
I'm surprised its so high... as without tax your insurance is invalid... plus I thought with the with new computer system they just need to check your number plate to confirm that there is no tax.
Automatic systems don't deal with bikes because of the rear-mounted plate. I think the new generation of systems they're bringing in will handle bikes better, resulting in more untaxed/SORN/stolen bikes being caught.
How do you guys feel about moving from a flat road tax to a pay-per-mile system like the Lib Dems are pushing for? I'm divided about it because a flat tax is cheap for bikes but a pay as you go charge would recognise that I ride my bike less in the winter and that I only do short commutes for most of the year.
Luckypants
22-01-08, 10:24 AM
Automatic systems don't deal with bikes because of the rear-mounted plate. I think the new generation of systems they're bringing in will handle bikes better, resulting in more untaxed/SORN/stolen bikes being caught.
Only if the operators are dumb enough to read number plates coming towards them! FFS How stupid are these politicians?
The most well known ANPR RFL trap around here is a Shotwick traffic lights and they always read the rear plate and radio ahead to have a suspect vehicle stopped.
To say that ANPR does not deal with bikes is complete rubbish.
Automatic systems don't deal with bikes because of the rear-mounted plate. I think the new generation of systems they're bringing in will handle bikes better, resulting in more untaxed/SORN/stolen bikes being caught.
How do you guys feel about moving from a flat road tax to a pay-per-mile system like the Lib Dems are pushing for? I'm divided about it because a flat tax is cheap for bikes but a pay as you go charge would recognise that I ride my bike less in the winter and that I only do short commutes for most of the year.
Automatic systems don't read the rear plate? :lol: Ride an untaxed bike along the A55, see how long it takes. All the blue cameras hanging off bridges face the rear of the vehicle, and are all linked to the ANPR system.
EDIT: Just as a side note, a 7x5 plate is too small to be recognised by ANPR, but unrecognised plates get flagged up in the control room. Then it's up to the operator if they want to look at the picture or not.
As for a pay-per-mile... sod that idea. Last year alone I did close to 25,000 miles.
If you're like hovis & don't get out much, pay for 6 months, then SORN it, then re-tax it later. No fine, cheeper for the year's tax.
Are local Tesco has ANPR/TAX cameras at the only entrance covering front and rear. I didnt believe it until i read the notice inside the store explaining why.
Paul the 6th
22-01-08, 10:52 AM
Government estimates are a ****ing wanky **** **** **** joke.
I don't think anyone is impressed with the concept of fixed speed camera's i.e. gatso's/truvelo's/specs etc but what about fixed tax/insurance cameras. They already park up the police/dvla vans with a user operated camera which check for insurance/tax, if it picks up on a vehicle which isn't taxed or insured, they pull as far as I'm aware...
i'd be happy to ride past one of these since I'm taxed, insured, licenced etc. they're just pushing the whole microchip i.d. issue - **** me, just devise a frontal number plate/i.d. system - would be much cheaper.
So 4 out of 10 dodge road tax...big deal
10 out of 10 of us dodge potholes - it's about time our road tax was spent on the upkeep of the roads.
I know 3 people who dont tax thier bikes. I agree with thier argument, of, if the roads where perfect then they would pay (As in surfacing, lack of diesel etc) but personaly i abide by the law when it comes to Road tax. At £5bn a year the roads should be silky smoth and appexed properly :)
I like this
It was also physically difficult for the police to detain motorcyclists as they can easily turn round and drive off, the report said.
Made me chuckle. As if that would really happen. They would just get your reg, go on the police laptop and make a visit to your home!
I also reckon that a majority of 'bikers' are actully scooter riders. Id like to know the breakdown of cc of vehicles. Im sure that most of the scooter possies that hoon round my estate arent taxed, instead buying saftey equpiment like Reebok Classics and a hoodie :) That would bloat the figures im sure.
ELR4ever
22-01-08, 11:08 AM
Pay up you all, you're giving me a bad name.:lol::lol::lol::lol:
gettin2dizzy
22-01-08, 07:30 PM
Why do I pay car and bike tax? I can't drive both at once.
Why do I pay car and bike tax? I can't drive both at once.
ROTFLMAO... I've been waiting for that response all day.
Anyone else watch QI? Right now on the org there's a black screen with flashing white writing on it.
Sorry, carry on.
bad-sv650
22-01-08, 10:51 PM
yes i pay 180 a year car tax, and the bike is on sorn till it's on the road.
But, what really gets me pee'd off is the amount of horses on the roads these days! Why don't they pay some form of tax !! they take up most of the f'ing road, but noooo!
IT's always the same, find a fault with the motorist/biker, and thats the way it goes!
Sid Squid
22-01-08, 11:03 PM
I'd be stunned, truly, if anything like 40% of bikes on the road were untaxed. Absolutely nowhere near that number of bikes I see are untaxed.
Of course it might be true to say 40% of ALL bikes are untaxed, but I really don't know - how many bike owners do you know that have a bike, (or two), not presently on the road?
metalmonkey
22-01-08, 11:24 PM
I read somethign about this a while ago, this whole argument was trashed becasue of this....
It was said they aplied the same logic to the amount of cars that aren't taxed to bikes, being that there are less bikes than cars it came out as a massive amount of bikes not being taxed.
But what ever idiot worked this out didn't take the above into account and made this number up, I suspect it as someone who has no clue about bikes and probally doesn't like them, I have come across this before.
People in suits who work this ****e out, should lined up and put down with a mini gun, only way to be sure. I not a fan of government and the idiots that work there the only purpouse they service is to wind people up.
gettin2dizzy
23-01-08, 08:19 AM
ROTFLMAO... I've been waiting for that response all day.
Anyone else watch QI? Right now on the org there's a black screen with flashing white writing on it.
Sorry, carry on.
:rolleyes:
hehe.
how many bike owners do you know that have a bike, (or two), not presently on the road?
SV - on the road taxed & insured.
CG125 - off the road (in my back garden). Even if I wanted to use it on the road, I'd have to push it whilst holding the clutch in (engine blown).
So that's 50% of my bikes that are untaxed. :O I'm above the national average :O
(Yes, it's SORN'd though - and the SORN is even in date!)
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