Taxing a car mid month

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Im picking up a new car on Saturday, if i pay the Car Tax by Direct Debit do i have to pay for January upfront as a one off payment before the Direct Debit kicks in to take payments on the 1st of each month ?

Thanks
 
More than likely a yes

Otherwise it would be quite easy to drive around with actually paying tax by cancelling the direct debits as soon as they're created then renewing the tax on the first of each month
 
This is what it says here
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-direct-debit

"Paying vehicle tax by Direct Debit offers you the opportunity to pay for your vehicle tax in 1 of 3 new ways:

6 monthly (a one off payment)
Annually ( a one off payment)
Monthly ( total spread over 12 payments annually)
The first payment will not be taken before the 1st day that the vehicle tax is due to start. You won’t be asked to make a payment at the time you arrange the direct debit."


Still a bit confused, so i tax the car on line on saturday paying by Direct Debit and no payment will be taken until the 1st of February ?????
 
Sounds a bit like you'll need to pay at least 6 months up front on a new purchase then switch to direct debit if you want it covered asap - at least from the text you've copied.

It'll start from the 1st of Jan too
 
Was simple when i set up the Direct Debit on my current car, was due to expire 31st December. Went online, set DD up and first DD payment came out my bank 1st January........I think i will ring them in the morning when i finish work.
 
Last edited:
To answer my question, the first payment comes out 14 days after the Tax / Direct Debit is set up, depending on the date the car is taxed the first payment may be taken on the 1st of the following month so you may end up paying 2 months Tax with your first DD payment. Either way you don't have to pay upfront if you tax mid month.
 
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