Finance Bill 2002: EXPLANATORY NOTE
CLAUSE 19: REGISTERED VEHICLES ETC
SUMMARY
1. Clause 19 provides that Schedule 5 to the Bill shall have effect.
2. Schedule 5 makes changes to the vehicle taxation and registration system to provide that liability to tax the vehicle shall rest with the registered keeper, and creates an offence of failing to relicense a vehicle. It provides that a supplement may be charged where a vehicle keeper fails to relicense a vehicle, and that the amount of such a supplement and the circumstances in which it is payable shall be specified in regulations.
DETAILS OF THE CLAUSE
3. Subsection (1) gives effect to Schedule 5, dealing with changes to vehicle taxation and registration.
4. Subsection (2) states that this Schedule shall come into effect on a day or days appointed by Order of the Secretary of State.
5. Subsection (3) states that for the purposes of making regulations, the Schedule shall have effect on Royal Assent.
6. Subsection (4(a)) gives the Secretary of State powers to make by statutory instrument any transitional arrangements as may be necessary in connection with Subsection (1).
7. Subsection (4(b)) gives the Secretary of State powers to make provisions consequential on or supplemental to Schedule 5, by order made by statutory instrument.
8. Subsection (5) provides that any statutory instrument containing an order under Subsection (4(b)) shall be made subject to the annulment procedure.
DETAILS OF THE SCHEDULE
9. Paragraphs 1 and 2 amend Section 1 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, and provide that vehicle excise duty shall be payable on any vehicle on the vehicle register or used or kept on a public road, or any former mechanically propelled vehicle that remains registered as a vehicle. It provides that the liability to pay the duty shall fall on the registered keeper or, if the vehicle is kept by another person, by either the registered or actual keeper.
10. Paragraph 3 covers cases currently covered by Section 2 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 where a vehicle is kept but not used on a public road, and provides that the rate payable shall either be that paid on a previous licence or on a similar vehicle, and at the general rate where a vehicle has not been previously licensed.
11. Paragraph 4 provides that a vehicle licence is only valid for the vehicle specified on the application. It amends Section 7(4) of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act to ensure that it is consistent with the provisions in paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Schedule.
12. Paragraph 5 inserts a new clause 7A into the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act. New clause 7A(1) provides that provision may be made in regulations for a supplement in addition to the duty payable to be levied where a keeper does not relicense as their current licence expires. 7A(2) gives powers for the regulations to provide for the timing and liability of such supplements, and provides that the level of supplement may vary according to the period that the vehicle has been unlicensed. 7A(3) provides that the level of supplement will be additional to the amount of duty paid on a licence and will continue to be payable even if a vehicle is relicensed after the supplement has become payable, and that it may be recovered as a debt due to the Crown. 7A(4) provides that the expiry of a licence shall refer to its surrender or to there being no licence in force and provides that regulations under this section will be made by the Secretary of State with the consent of the Treasury. 7A(5) and 7A(6) provide that regulations which relate to the scope of , amount of , timing of or liability to a supplement shall be approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
13. Paragraph 5 also inserts new section 7B into the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994. It provides that the Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for notifying registered keepers of vehicles about liability to supplements, for assessing and notifying the amount of the supplement, to recover any supplement and to set up appeals procedures. It provides that supplements shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
14. Paragraph 6 amends Section 22 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, which deals with the making of vehicle registration regulations. It gives the Secretary of State powers to require a person who does not renew a vehicle licence to furnish such particulars as required by regulations under Section 22.
15. Paragraph 7 makes a consequential amendment to Section 29(7) of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act to ensure consistency with the new Section 2 of that Act inserted by Paragraph 3 of this Schedule.
16. Paragraph 8 contains new Sections 31A, 31B and 31C of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act establishing a new offence of being the registered keeper of an unlicensed vehicle
17. New Section 31A(1) provides that where a vehicle is unlicensed, the person in whose name the vehicle is registered is guilty of an offence. 31A(2) defines a vehicle as unlicensed if no licence or trade licence is in force in respect of the vehicle. 31A(3) provides that 31A(1) does not apply to exempt vehicles. 31A(4) provides that where a vehicle is transferred to another person, it shall be deemed unlicensed except where the licence is transferred with the vehicle. 31(5) provides that 31A(4) does not apply in the case of temporary licences.
18. New Section 31B deals with exceptions to 31A. It provides that the registered keeper of an unlicensed vehicle does not commit an offence if certain conditions are satisfied. These are:
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31B(2) - that he is no longer the keeper and has complied with any requirements under Section 22(1)(d) of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act relating to the furnishing of details of the disposal of a vehicle;
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31B(3) - that the vehicle is no longer kept or used on the public road and the registered keeper has complied with the requirements of Section 22(1D) of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 relating to the furnishing of information;
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31B(4) - that the vehicle has been stolen and not recovered and that any requirements under 31B(6) relating to the notification of theft of a vehicle have been satisfied;
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31B(5) - that the vehicle has been relicensed during a prescribed period of grace, for a period beginning at the start of the period of grace.
19. Section 31B(6) provides that the Secretary of State may make regulations to provide for the notification of the theft of a vehicle. 31B(7) provides that the Secretary of State may by regulation prescribe further exceptions to the offence set out in 31A(1), or vary or revoke such further exceptions. Section 31B(8) provides that a person accused of an offence under 31A(1) is not entitled to the benefit of an exception unless evidence is produced sufficient to raise an issue of exemption, but where this evidence is produced the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the exception does not apply. 31B(9) provides the circumstances in which a licence is deemed to have expired.
20. New section 31C covers penalties for offences under 31A. 31C(1) provides the level of penalty as level 3 on the standard scale or five times the amount of duty applicable to the vehicle, and for an additional penalty set out in 31C(2) if conditions in 31C(3) are met. The penalty set out in 31C(2) is a minimum of the maximum penalty under 31A(1) plus any supplement payable in respect of failure to renew a licence and a maximum of the greatest of that minimum plus ten times the level of duty payable in respect of the vehicle. 31C(3) applies where the person concerned is the registered keeper and the vehicle was unlicensed for the entire period starting with the commission of the offence and ending with the start of proceedings.
21. Sections 31C(4) and 31C(5) specify the amount of duty chargeable as that set out in Sections 1 and 2 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 as amended by this Schedule. 31C(6) provides that for a continuous offence the date of that offence is the latest date to which the conviction relates. Section 31C(7) defines the expiry of a vehicle licence in a manner consistent with the remainder of the Schedule.
22. Paragraphs 9-17 contain supplementary provisions relating to convictions for the new offence established by new Section 31A, to ensure that the treatment of such convictions is consistent with that for any other licensing offence under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994.