Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many penalty notices the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has issued in respect of vehicle tax where the tax due was £0.00 in the last 12 months.

There are currently around 37 million licensed vehicles recorded on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) database with a further three million vehicles subject to a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).

In 2016 the DVLA issued 15,656 late licensing penalties to keepers of vehicles that attract a nil rate of vehicle excise duty who did not renew their vehicle licence.

There are a number of reasons why a vehicle may attract a nil rate of vehicle excise duty. These include vehicles where the registered keeper is in receipt of, or is acting on behalf of an individual in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment or where vehicles are in a Historic, Crown or Emergency tax class.

All vehicle licences must be renewed on an annual or six-monthly basis whether vehicle excise duty is payable or not. This helps to ensure that the keeper information held on the DVLA’s record is accurate and that the details relating to the nil rate of vehicle excise duty remain correct. For example, a nil rate of vehicle excise duty may no longer be applicable if the registered keeper changes or the current keeper’s circumstances change.