Road Tax in Europe
 

Hi a quick word of warning if like me you let your road TAX lapse while on the road. Im in Madrid where after a minor parking problem i was told by the police that my bike was not taxed and would be towed away if i could not prove it was or i taxed it there and then. I did it on line and saved myself a 100 Euro fine plus tow charges.
Also if your in Madrid beware where you park a local guy said no probs park as long as you like .90 Euro fine first thing in the morning is not fun. Skip

You can park as long as you like....... but you will get a fine.:oops2:

British bike or Spanish bike?

Anyway... not every country has a road tax. ;)

British bike, they went straight on to the British government TAX & MOT page. Luckily i managed to do it on line there and then. Skip

Be aware the gendarmerie in France are doing it as well :oops2:

Also it clearly states on my UK insurance policy documents for both bikes & cars that the insurance is only valid if the vehicle is currently tax & has a valid MoT

I blame :censored: Brexit for it

OK, now if I am returning from a long (year plus) tour and the MOT and tax have run out how am I meant to get them sorted out when I get back when the ferry gets in at 8 in the evening? Wait until the garage opens and get the MOT done then?

Honestly the idea of keeping Egyptian plates is starting to make more and more sense (I know, I can’t, it just seems to make life easier - on the flip side will the average policeman realise that my Egyptian plates aren’t pukka?).

Ride it to the nearest mot station, sort out your insurance , & tax it on line (but all the details may not upload onto the DVLA database till the next day). Put it on a trailer otherwise you will get done, I was told this when checked coming back through Portsmouth :welcome back to England :censored: jobs worth

Apparently the whole of the UK is now saturated with ANPR cameras so there is nowhere to hide anymore. The days of “the tax is in the post” & “give me a 7 day producer officer” are long gone :surrender:

Don’t even try to get into a conversation with the DVLA about what constitutes a “temporary export” either !!

If arriving in Portsmouth, this city has many such cameras, some of which are placed near the port entrance.

But for a lot of countries you cannot let the road tax go. For Netherlands for example (where foreigners can also register their vehicle) the road tax is always demanded, unless you specifically say to pull it off the road (which you can do when you're outside (Western) Europe). Then you are not allowed to use it anymore, but don't have any obligations to pay tax or to do (our version of) the MOT.
However, perhaps for Germany, but I think also for Austria, when you do that you have to give the license plates back. That is not an option when you are somewhere still using the vehicle outside of Europe.

The MOT thing is annoying since it expires and needs to be done when getting back. We also once just paid the fine when coming back, finding it easier than all the hassle to prevent it.
Although I know one Dutch guy who challenged the fine (as in, in a court) with the argument: I'm just a user of my car, I'm doing everything right (still had it taxed), but show me where I can do MOT in Mongolia? And he won that, so he didn't have to pay any fines (he already got 4 of them)

But yeah, a lot of hassle, especially when coming back with all the cameras these days.

I suspect that they are actually in the port monitoring what’s going on and off the ferries as well - would make sense :detective:

So if we're now getting pulled for having no Tax whilst abroad, what happens on a long (year+) trip when coming back through these countries when there is no way to get an MOT in order to get Tax?

German vehicle tax is automatically deducted from the holders bank account by the taxman once a year.
If you have a valid registration it is automatically taxed. We can't escape that, even when riding down Russia.

MOT is only valid in the country of registration. No country cares if my German TÜV has expired. The vehicle has to be in a roadworthy condition however.

You can call your insurance company to tell them you're outside the EU and they will reimburse you for the time the vehicle is in some third party country, i.e. Morocco. Proof has to be provided of course. They need a shout before you come back into the EU.
It is really simple actually. The British system is really FUBAR, like most Brit beaurocracy is and always has been.

It's good that the tax is not linked to the German TÜV. Here in the UK you have to have MOT to get tax. MOTs can only be done in the UK so if on a year+ trip it seems you're shafted.

There is no enforcement here except cameras. If you were to get a plate really dirty or you broke it or the plate maker in Mongolia got it slightly wrong I'm sure it would take more than one journey from the ferry to your home to get caught.

The legislation stands that you can travel to an MOT. Book an appointment for 9am the day after the 8pm ferry gets in and you can try claiming you are on your way there.

Andy

I think you will find that if your vehicle is “out of the UK” for more than 12 months you have actually exported it according to the DVLA.

https://www.gov.uk/taking-vehicles-out-of-uk