Hey, I'm confused here. We have to get Road Tax for our car before the end of the week and I'm seeing that the price for our car to be taxed is lower on the Direct.gov site! WTH?!

We got a paper from the DVLA showing the price for 6 months of tax @ 118.25GBP....but the Direct.gov site says the price for Road Tax on our car should be 71.50GBP for 6 months. Thats a difference of $76!! I feel like we are getting ripped off. Well, I think Road Tax is a huge rip off anyhow, but why are there two different price for the SAME car? 

The price was ALWAYS different for me when I would go to the post office to pay for it. I learned the first time to always have more money on hand than what the paper said because they always happened to increase the yearly rates right before mine was due. The post master once told me this was because the print outs were printed before the price increase, which irritated me because like they didn't know the rates would increase and I couldn't get the disc for some many days before it expired. The DVLA is the most unorganized mess I have ever had to deal with. We rented a house once and got a letter stating that a bailiff would be coming to our house due to unpaid speeding tickets- THAT WASNT EVEN FROM OUR CAR!!! The people who lived in the house prior to us didnt change their address so we got the blame as it goes against the HOUSE, not the person... So we called the DVLA and they said "send us a letter explaining that they dont live there. Then send ANOTHER letter to this other DVLA branch stating the same thing. then send yet ANOTHER letter to another DVLA branch... WHAT? Don't your systems talk to each other??? Don't even get me going on this... it is what it is... sorry. 

You get reimbursed for it anyway.... I was ripped off the first time because the first time I got a road tax for my car the reimbursement was included in your COLA, however, ONE month AFTER I disced my car they changed the policy that you had to file a reimbursement and they were stopping the COLA inclusion. That ticked me off a little but then I though, I dont get reimbursed state side for my yearly registration so I guess I will eat it.. just food for thought. 

Thanks for the info Shannon! Yeah, I know we get reimbursed for it....just kinda sucks cause we get NAILED for taxes here. We have to pay TV Tax and Road Tax for our one car this month, then next month we have to pay Road Tax on our second car. We only get reimbursed for one car.... :(

However, this month we can't afford to pay TV Tax. So, we aren't paying it. They can drive around with their little "scanner" but they aren't going to "see" a TV signal coming into our TV set. We don't watch TV! It says right on the TV Licensing site that if you only use a TV for DVDs/Video Games then you don't have to pay anyhow. So, we're not going to sweat it.....we can't pay it! That's almost 400 quid in TAXES in only two months! England needs a "Revolt" button on their tax hungry government. It's crazy.

I'm going to get the tax disc today....I hate spending money on pieces of paper. 

SSDD, you sound like me! both road taxes and tv tax are due next week for me!! both our cars went up in taxes too, they used to be 190, then 205 and now 215... it doesnt seem like a large increase, but dang, when you have to convert it over, bleh!! 

it doesnt seem like a large increase, but dang, when you have to convert it over, bleh!!

You said it! I agree, when you convert it over HOLY COW! It is no small sum! 400 pounds is like $652! We get SHAFTED living here. Europe and their weird taxes....no thanks. I'm glad we're PCSing soon. I know we'll make LESS due to no more COLA stateside BUT I'll be able to find a job back home, and we won't have to pay strange taxes such as Road Tax/TV Tax....and depending on where we go we won't have to get our vehicles inspected. I miss that about Georgia. So, we'll lose money but we also won't have as many expensive bills to pay.

That is the ONE thing about these taxes that I can't stand. You pay them and all you have to show for handing over your cash is a piece of paper. They say TV Tax helps make it so there are LESS commercials.....I don't quite see it that way. When we first got here in 2008 we had Sky and there were just as many commercials here as there are back in the USA. Road Tax doesn't even go towards maintaining the roads! So why do they call it "Road" tax? Yuck. MOT? It's more expensive and LESS comprehensive than Pennsylvania's state inspection (where I'm from). Here MOT is what? 45 quid? That is what I remember it costing last time I had to do it (our new car is exempt from them for the remaining time we are here). That's what? $73......the PA state inspection is more thorough and it only costs $30 where I go (I had to get our Ford Expedition inspected last year....it's still in PA).

Another thing is shops close early here so lets say your MOT appointment was the last one for the day....lets say 5:30PM. By the time it is done, lets say it failed because the car needs a new tie rod and a pair of ball joints. Well you're screwed till tomorrow.....that is assuming you are able to make it to the auto parts store between work/family stuff. Back home if the car failed an inspection then it's no big deal because the Autozone closes at 9PM Monday-Saturday (and closes at 8PM on Sundays). Here shops close at 6PM...while others close much earlier.

I miss the convenience and the flexibility of the way most things are in the states. We are hoping to get Florida.....I lived there for a year prior to getting married and moving to South Georgia. It was GREAT. 

road tax rates went up from april 1st 2011
what engine size is your car? 

1595cc/1.6L

I know what it is going to cost, 118.25GBP for 6 months. I just find it confusing that the Direct.gov site says it would be 71.50GBP for 6 months..... 

Here MOT is what? 45 quid?
The garages near the base rip people off on the MOTs. I only pay £35 for my inspections, but I live 25 miles away.

nother thing is shops close early here so lets say your MOT appointment was the last one for the day....lets say 5:30PM. By the time it is done, lets say it failed because the car needs a new tie rod and a pair of ball joints. Well you're screwed till tomorrow.....that is assuming you are able to make it to the auto parts store between work/family stuff.
Again, getting poor service near the base I think. My garage just lets me know if something failed and they order and replace the part for me, so I don't have to worry about the hassle. Plus, their prices are very reasonable and they never overcharge.

Our TV License and Road Tax for my wife's car are always due at the same time as well, but hey, at least we get reimbursed. I always feel bad for all our friends who don't get reimbursed for these things. Could you imagine if we had to pay the council tax as well. Ugh. 

Could you imagine if we had to pay the council tax as well.

The council tried to make us pay it when we lived at our last house. We had to jump through a bunch of hoops in order to make them believe we didn't have to pay it. They were quite obsessed with getting the 4000 pounds out of us.

Yes, it is nice that we get reimbursed...but lets all remember that it is only for one car. Another thing that doesn't seem to make the reimbursement any better is the fact that Road Tax is a pretty big chunk of cash being taken most likely at an inopportune moment.....let's face it, it certainly isn't affordable. 

How long does it take to get the road tax refunded? 

The council tried to make us pay it when we lived at our last house. We had to jump through a bunch of hoops in order to make them believe we didn't have to pay it. They were quite obsessed with getting the 4000 pounds out of us.

Yes, it is nice that we get reimbursed...but lets all remember that it is only for one car. Another thing that doesn't seem to make the reimbursement any better is the fact that Road Tax is a pretty big chunk of cash being taken most likely at an inopportune moment.....let's face it, it certainly isn't affordable.

All you have to do is fill out an exemption form from the housing office and send it in, then you don't have to worry about the council tax. Its not very hard. The road tax is not a big deal either... YOU GET REIMBURSED... Yes it sucks and it is a chunk of change... HOWEVER, we have the SAME thing in the states called REGISTRATION that you have to pay every year and back state side we are NOT reimbursed. So Im not sure why you are so upset about it.. TV tax, yes, that's a crock IMO. If you budget for it, it shouldn't come at an inopportune moment. You know when it is coming so it is not like it sneaks up on you. You know what I think is more of a crock??? Gov travel cards... I mean really? Those are a PITA! and can take MONTHS to get reimbursed for them- but you have to pay it off right away.... I don't know whose brain storm that one was? 

All you have to do is fill out an exemption form from the housing office and send it in, then you don't have to worry about the council tax. Its not very hard. The road tax is not a big deal either... YOU GET REIMBURSED... Yes it sucks and it is a chunk of change... HOWEVER, we have the SAME thing in the states called REGISTRATION that you have to pay every year and back state side we are NOT reimbursed. So Im not sure why you are so upset about it.

What? When we PCS'd here we processed out of Moody AFB in Georgia then loaded up the U-Haul we rented and hitched it onto our 2000 Ford Expeiditon. We drove it to Pennsylvania (where we are from) and took our leave for 3 weeks then came over here.

The Expedition stayed behind....stored in my cousins garage. We shipped our Pontiac Vibe over here two months prior. Anyhow, since the Expedition was only purchased a week before we left for Pennsylvania it wasn't registered in any state. Georgia give paper dealer plates that are legal. We drove up on that paper plate. So....the Expedition needed to be registered in PA if we were going to legally drive it to our next base once we PCS from here.

Last year, I took a hop to Dover AFB and then rode back to PA with my In Laws. Once there (and armed with Power of attorney) I got the Expedition registered, a PA plate, and inspected. The registration cost a measly sum of $38 bucks. I think the cost of the registration included the new license plate. The actual inspection only cost $30....so to make the truck legal cost $68 altogether. Road tax costs $195.00 for a 6 month disc. The difference is $127. Comparing vehicle registration costs to UK Road Tax is like comparing Apples to Onions.

Yes, you get REIMBURSED.....but it's alot of money to hand over only to wait however long to get back. What if you REALLY needed that money ASAP? The fact you get reimbursed only helps if you aren't hurting for money. Do you understand what I mean? 

Hence why you budget... Like Shannon said, it's not like you don't know it's coming and when... Same with TV tax.

And we just bought a GMC pickup Stateside and had to pay $600 in taxes and registration. I think you're lucky on the $68 measly you paid. If fact, I would bet someone missed something somewhere.... 

Hence why you budget... Like Shannon said, it's not like you don't know it's coming and when... Same with TV tax.

And we just bought a GMC pickup Stateside and had to pay $600 in taxes and registration. I think you're lucky on the $68 measly you paid. If fact, I would bet someone missed something somewhere....

I wasn't talking about the taxes when we purchased the vehicle. Nobody missed any of that. We traded in our 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee and my 1999 Mustang GT for the Expedition. Any taxes that were owed on the Expedition were included in the loan amount. The REGISTRATION for the vehicle in Georgia did NOT happen because the dealer plate was good for 30 days. There was zero need to register it in Georgia when it was no longer going to be there. We bought it then headed for PA. It was essentially unregistered in any state till last year.....I then got PA registration for it since I wanted to drive it while on vacation and so it would be done for when we PCS from here (pretty soon). Do you understand what I'm saying? The truck didn't leave the dealer lot (Pipkins VW in Valdosta) with a metal "Georgia" plate. It left the dealer lot with a paper "plate" that had the name of the car lot on it....then it had a hologram strip with the date it expired written across it. It was insured full coverage. We didn't have to register it (and get a real plate) until the dealer plate ran out. But we weren't living there anymore so there was no point.

Budget? What is that? I'm sorry, it is just too much money for us to budget. We are often left with less than $100 each month after groceries, baby items, gas, bills, etc....it's hard to budget stuff here on just E5 pay. We do our best but things like Road Tax, MOT, TV Tax all take their toll.

This wasn't my initial question anyhow. My problem with Road Tax is that you have one system (Direct.gov) telling you Road Tax is this price (cheaper) then you have another system (DVLA computer/British Post Office guy) telling you it costs more than what the "Direct.gov" system is telling you. Do they not communicate with each other? Sounds like a Cluster**** to me. If a customer is presented with two prices obviously they want to choose the lesser of the two. Maybe they should fix their system.....or get rid of it.

Winston Churchill (God bless him) tried to abolish this horrible tax.

Yes, we know when it's due....yes we can afford it. We're not stupid. That isn't the point. The point is WHO....who actually wants to spend that much money on something as trivial as "Road Tax". Isn't buying the car, putting gas/petrol in it, insuring it and paying for it's upkeep enough? After all that they actually tax you to use the roads. Wow.

My other point for it is we get reimbursed for it.....but the British don't! So consider me complaining on THEIR behalf! They don't have a choice but to keep paying this silly (and expensive) tax year after year! I'm at least thankful I get to go home where I won't have to pay it any longer. I only hope they get rid of this tax (as well as TV Tax). 

£4,000 for council tax? Yikes! Where we live, we got a bill for £1,500 before we got the matter settled with the form. The previous tenants never filled out this form at all. So the council forwarded the bill onto the landlord's new address. Apparently, in this country, when a tenant does not pay bills (including phone/internet) companies go after the landlord for the money. Suckage. 

What? When we PCS'd here we processed out of Moody AFB in Georgia then loaded up the U-Haul we rented and hitched it onto our 2000 Ford Expeiditon. We drove it to Pennsylvania (where we are from) and took our leave for 3 weeks then came over here.

The Expedition stayed behind....stored in my cousins garage. We shipped our Pontiac Vibe over here two months prior. Anyhow, since the Expedition was only purchased a week before we left for Pennsylvania it wasn't registered in any state. Georgia give paper dealer plates that are legal. We drove up on that paper plate. So....the Expedition needed to be registered in PA if we were going to legally drive it to our next base once we PCS from here.

Last year, I took a hop to Dover AFB and then rode back to PA with my In Laws. Once there (and armed with Power of attorney) I got the Expedition registered, a PA plate, and inspected. The registration cost a measly sum of $38 bucks. I think the cost of the registration included the new license plate. The actual inspection only cost $30....so to make the truck legal cost $68 altogether. Road tax costs $195.00 for a 6 month disc. The difference is $127. Comparing vehicle registration costs to UK Road Tax is like comparing Apples to Onions.

Yes, you get REIMBURSED.....but it's alot of money to hand over only to wait however long to get back. What if you REALLY needed that money ASAP? The fact you get reimbursed only helps if you aren't hurting for money. Do you understand what I mean?

THUS is WHY you get COLA in the UK and NOT in PA. Do not get mad with me because you are a poor planner and apparently bad with money. You have 12 months.... or 6 months if you choose the 6 month plan to save up for your road tax... you know it is coming... they do not hide it from you. Same goes for the TV tax. I came over as a single mother and an E5 made more money than I did, and I did just fine. If you are having issues with your finances then this is the perfect time and reason to budget so you don't get into this sort of bind.
Complain on the British behalf??? You mean ranting, right? I have yet to hear a Brit National complain about this... like I have yet to hear an American complain about their registration. Paying your registration and road tax goes right along with taking care of your car and insuring it. It is a requirement if you want to drive. This is exactly why Americans leave a sour taste in other countries mouths. This sense of entitlement attitude is disgusting. Who made you better than your British neighbor? Climb off your high horse and get back into reality. The world is not perfect and it does not revolve around you. 

Edited because I don't feel like hearing more drama from the above poster. The above reply has little to do with my initial question and is therefore unhelpful. Thanks Shannon. 

£4,000 for council tax? Yikes! Where we live, we got a bill for £1,500 before we got the matter settled with the form. The previous tenants never filled out this form at all. So the council forwarded the bill onto the landlord's new address. Apparently, in this country, when a tenant does not pay bills (including phone/internet) companies go after the landlord for the money. Suckage.

MC- IIRC the Council Tax bill we got at our old house was 4000 pounds because the previous tenants apparently owed some? I think it was two years worth of tax. To get it straightened out so we didn't have to pay was a little more difficult then getting a paper saying we were exempt. It sucked. We had to prove that we were who we claimed to be, provide proof of our orders, we had to get some kind of paper (can't remember where we got it) from the base and we had to call the place that issued the council tax constantly. It took us about a week of BS to finally get it fixed. They were trying like crazy to get us to pay it. Lol! It scared the crap outta us because who has that kind of money laying around? Lol. Glad that is over with! 

Way to go shannon about time someone told ssdd james where it is at Go Baby Go. 

Way to go shannon about time someone told ssdd james where it is at Go Baby Go.

Don't start trollin' Bill. ;) 

Let me ask people this....State things I have said that offended you AND cite examples (with evidence) of me being rude. I want proof of this if people are going to accuse me of stuff.

All I said was I don't know why there are two prices for Road Tax (and TV Tax is stupid). Discuss. 

proposal remove SSDD james as a moderator
his posts are now very boring and he is goin to pcs soon anyway 

proposal remove SSDD james as a moderator
his posts are now very boring and he is goin to pcs soon anyway

Propose to have Bill ICED. I'm not PCSing for some time Bill. You're stuck with me. Bwahahahaha!

I wanted to add....lol (in a British accent) "Am I boring you Bill? Feckin' 'ell mate..." 

This is cool.... maybe I'll order one! 

Wow, I got deleted for adding to the conversation, but not what YOU wanted to hear... Way to overstep your mod duties, SSDD...

You are controlling and very overbearing. But then, you'll just delete this too...

Whatever, I got orders, I don't care, I'll be rid of you soon! 

I'll be rid of you soon!

That goes both ways Julie. Also....who deleted you? I didn't delete anything you said. WTH are you talking about? Also, we get our orders soon enough. Can't wait.

You know what I wanna hear? I wanna hear you sing your version of Scatman John's "I'm a Scatman" in the middle of the roundabout by the elementary school in a bathrobe with curlers in your hair. That is what I want to hear. 

You know what I wanna hear? I wanna hear you sing your version of Scatman John's "I'm a Scatman" in the middle of the roundabout by the elementary school in a bathrobe with curlers in your hair. That is what I want to hear

This is flippin' hilarious! 

(Whatever, I got orders, I don't care, I'll be rid of you soon!)

you wont be thats the problem he will be in your dreams,it will wake you in the middle of the night!!!!! 

You are controlling and very overbearing. But then, you'll just delete this too...


This board has been EXTREMELY open to freedom of speech in MOST terms. Yet we got major flack because we voted off the most UNSENSATIVE person on this board that started to flip his lid after an extremist killed 2 of our soliders and people on this board were majorly offended by his name change. And this was after the pictures of the down syndrome kid and armless baby (most people don't find it funny). People who knew the 1 man that was killed from this base. And even after ALL the backhanded comments that we got for "going behind his back", we let you have your say without causing more drama. I won't even go into the whole foot fetish and asking for pictures thing...oh wait. Nevermind.

The only thing SSDD has done lately is change my husban's rank because I asked him to because this person put it out there and I specifically left it out. GCB knew that info. That's personal info and I'm a very private person and even more so now. Funny how until recently, I've never given away GCB's name, where he works...NOTHING. Because I know he's private to, otherwise everyone would know these things. Even as much as a big baby as I think he is/has been, I just don't go there. Recently, I only mentioned his first name when I asked SSDD to change that.