Vehicle tax evasion statistics - RAC comment

Responding to new data on the proportion of untaxed vehicles on the UK's roads, RAC spokesman Simon Williams said:

“While it is good news that vehicle tax evasion has gone down, it is still significantly higher than it was before the tax disc was abolished in October 2014. To put this into perspective, evasion in 2013 was around 0.6% and in 2015, the next point at which this survey was carried out, it had risen to around 1.4%.

“It’s therefore hard to see that doing away with the tax disc has been good for ensuring as many vehicles as possible are taxed for use on our roads.

“This all means the Government is consistently missing out on very large amounts of tax revenue which from next year will be ringfenced for maintaining major roads in England. This time around the lost revenue figure is potentially as much as £94m.”

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The RAC Media Centre provides journalists and news outlets with the latest motoring-related news, comment, data and research.

The RAC is an iconic British driving services brand and has been championing drivers since 1897. Today it is one of the UK’s most trusted names, providing complete peace of mind ® to over 15 million drivers across breakdown cover, insurance, and mobile servicing and repairs.

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