You are 100% right but about 5 years out of date ( or living in NI) . Yes the 14 day thing was a real pain in the ass. Which is one of the reasons why the DVLA dropped the insurance check from the online VED purchase system. It was not really needed anymore after Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) was introduced.
its £320 per year every year in years 2-6. Five years in total
The proper name ( at least what the DVLA calls it ) is VED Vehicle Excise Duty and the "luxury car tax" is AR VED Additional Rate Vehicle Excise Duty but if call it that no one knows what I am talking about. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
While it is usually true in practice that no VED is due in year one, it is not exactly correct and it is possible to find a new EV untaxed and facing the luxury charge in the first year. The exemption from the luxury tax applies only to first registration. If you change registered keeper then, because the tax sytem now associates tax with the person and not the car, then the vehicle is not taxed after transfer and tax is due. This is a trap most are not aware of so be careful not to change keeper in year 1 or you may find your car untaxed and luxury tax to pay.
You are correct that is it not true to say that the AR VED is not technically due years 2 -6 but for "5 years from the start of the second licence". So, as you say, if you change keeper before the end of year 1 you will bring forward the point at which you start paying it.
I assume you jest....... but actually not a bad idea. if you genuinely wanted to do that you would not need to actually change keeper which would be a PITA you could just SORN it for a day then re-tax it. That would have the same effect."you will be giving a nice surprise to someone in 5 years time when they find their VED unexpectedly drops to zero a year early"
... or if its a company car and you plan on buying it out in 4 years time you can bring the charge into the company
Are you saying Tesla is putting companies as the registered keeper of vehicles? if you have a company car then YOU should be the keeper even if you are not the owner. Only things like pool cars that have no main daily user should have companies as the keeper.
Lease companies may physically keep the V5 but they would still want you on it as the keeper since they would not want to deal with speeding and parking fines and having to forward them to you. Police would also not be happy if they could not look up the address of a driver after an incident and go around to their house to find them (before they sober up). Keeper does not equal owner though having the V5 does make it easier to sell the car even though it is not yours should you feel like it ( hense HPI checks) . Most used to keep them but that was hassle in itself so would not be surprised if they let you have it so they don't have to store it. I have heard of some fleet operators who just bin them and pay £20 for a new one when then sell the car since they can't be bothered to store them. Sounds bizarre to me but apparently true.I agree entirely, Tesla should be putting individuals name on the V5C and not the company but that is not happening, they are putting the company name only. There is of course no way to discuss this with Tesla deliveries.
I agree also in that amendments in V5C box 3 are not change of keeper but are amendments to existing keeper details. DVLA are processing name changes in box 3 incorrectly as a change of keeper, which it is not. Change of keeper is a different process. I know this because I am currently in dispute with DVLA over this exact issue.
I would prefer my name and not the company name on the V5C (the address is the same) because insurance companies like it like that. Despite the address remaining the same, the DVLA treated it as a change of keeper. DVLA do not have a telephone number for queries like this so I'm waiting for them to resolve the issue, ideally my name and the company name can both go on the V5C. Don't know if that's possible, lets wait and see.
If the 5 year luxury tax period starts now instead of next year then, that's not actually a terrible outcome. DVLA should come back to me by tomorrow. In the meantime I'm untaxed.
What happens with lease cars, do the lease companies keep the V5C as registered keeper?
Really. That surprises me. That is certainly not what the DVLA or the Police would tell you. Registered keeper should be (as the name suggests) the person who actually holds the vehicle on a day to day basis. I guess its maybe more of a rule than a law and if the lease companies can monetise the situation to their advantage by NOT doing this I guess they would. Surprised the police accept it though since it means they can't just go straight to the DVLA's database to trace a likely driver.
