Vehicles (Excise) Act 1962

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved


Vehicles (Excise) Act, 1962

(10 & 11 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 13

An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to excise duties on mechanically propelled vehicles, and to the licensing and registration of such vehicles.

Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Excise duty on, and licensing of, mechanically propelled vehicles

Excise duty on, and licensing of, mechanically propelled vehicles

S-1 Charge of duty.

1 Charge of duty.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a duty of excise shall be charged in respect of every mechanically propelled vehicle used on any public road in Great Britain and shall be paid upon a licence to be taken out by the person keeping the vehicle.

(2) The duty chargeable under this section in respect of a vehicle of any description shall be chargeable by reference to the annual rate applicable in accordance with the provisions of that one of the first five Schedules to this Act which relates to vehicles of that description.

S-2 Duration of licences and rates of duty.

2 Duration of licences and rates of duty.

(1) Subject to the provisions or the following section, a licence under this Act (other than a trade licence) may be taken out—

(a ) in the case of any vehicle, for one calendar year;

(b ) in the case of any vehicle, for any period of twelve months running from the beginning of the month in which the licence first has effect;

(c ) in the case of any vehicle the annual rate of duty applicable to which exceeds four pounds, for any period of four months running from the beginning of the month in which the licence first has effect;

(d ) in the case of a goods vehicle which is authorised to be used on roads by virtue of an order made under subsection (4) of section sixty-four of the Road Traffic Act, 1960, and the unladen weight of which exceeds eleven tons, for any period of seven consecutive days.

(2) Subject to the provisions of the following section, the duty payable on a licence under this Act for a vehicle of any description shall—

(a ) if the licence is taken out for one calendar year or any other period of twelve months, be paid at the annual rate of duty applicable to vehicles of that description;

(b ) if the licence is taken out for a period of four months, be paid at a rate equal to eleven thirtieths of the said annual rate;

(c ) if the licence is taken out for a period of seven days, be paid at a rate equal to one fifty-second of the said annual rate plus ten per cent. of that amount;

and in computing the rate of duty in accordance with paragraph (b ) or paragraph (c ) of this subsection, any fraction of a shilling shall be treated as a whole shilling if it exceeds sixpence and shall otherwise be disregarded.

S-3 Power to modify duration of licences and rates of duty.

3 Power to modify duration of licences and rates of duty.

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the Minister may by order provide that licences under this Act (other than trade licences and licences for one calendar year) may be taken out for such periods as may be specified in the order, being—

(a ) periods of a fixed number of months (not exceeding fifteen) running from the beginning of the month in which the licence first has effect; or

(b ) in the case of vehicles of such description, or of such description and used in such circumstances, as may be so specified, periods of less than a month.

(2) A licence for any period specified in an order under this section shall be taken out on payment of duty at such rate as may be so specified:

Provided that—

(a ) the rate of duty on any licence taken out for a vehicle for a period other than one of twelve months shall be such as to bear to the annual rate of duty applicable to that vehicle no less proportion than the period for which the licence is taken out bears to a year; and

(b ) the rate of duty on any licence taken out for a vehicle for a period of three months or for a period of four months shall not exceed for each month of the period ten per cent. of the annual rate of duty applicable to the vehicle.

(3) Any order made by the Minister under this section may be made so as to apply only to vehicles of specified descriptions and may make different provision for vehicles of different descriptions or for different circumstances.

(4) The power to make orders under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument, and shall include power to vary or revoke any order so made and to amend or repeal the following provisions of the foregoing section, that is to say, in subsection (1), paragraphs (b ), (c ) and (d ) and, in subsection (2), paragraphs (b ) and (c ) and so much of the remainder of the subsection as relates to those two paragraphs.

S-4 Duty on vehicles kept, but not used, on roads.

4 Duty on vehicles kept, but not used, on roads.

(1) The duty chargeable under section one of this Act in respect of the use of mechanically propelled vehicles on public roads in Great Britain shall also be chargeable in respect of the keeping of such vehicles thereon, and the foregoing provisions of this Act shall apply accordingly.

(2) For the purposes of the said duty, in so far as chargeable by virtue of this section, a vehicle shall be deemed—

(a ) to be chargeable with the like duty as on the occasion of the issue of the licence or last licence issued for the vehicle under this Act, and to be so chargeable by reference to the rate specified in the same Schedule to this Act as on that occasion, or

(b ) if no licence has been issued for the vehicle under this Act, to be chargeable by reference to the rate applicable to it under the Fifth Schedule to this Act.

(3) Nothing in this section shall operate so as to render lawful the keeping of a vehicle for any period, in any manner or at any place, if to do so would be unlawful apart from this section.

S-5 Collection of duty.

5 Collection of duty.

(1) The duty chargeable under this Act shall be levied by county councils in accordance with provisions to be made for the purpose by Order in Council.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act and of any Order in Council made under this section, every county council and their officers shall have within their county for the purpose of levying the duty aforesaid the same powers, duties and liabilities as the Commissioners of Customs and Excise and their officers have with respect to duties of excise and to the issue and cancellation of licences on which duties of excise are imposed and to other matters under the Acts relating to duties of excise and excise licences; and, subject to those provisions and in particular section nineteen of this Act, all enactments relating to those duties and to punishments and penalties in connection therewith shall apply accordingly.

(3) Without prejudice to the foregoing subsection and subject to the provisions of any Order in Council made under this section, every county council shall, with respect to the duty of excise chargeable under this Act and the excise licences provided for thereby, have the powers given to the said Commissioners by the Acts relating to duties of excise and excise licences for the restoration of any forfeiture and the mitigation or remission of any penalty or part thereof.

(4) The duty levied by a county council under this Act shall be paid into the Exchequer in such manner and in accordance with such directions as may be contained in any Order in Council made under this section.

(5) Provision may be made by Order in Council under this section for enabling the Minister to give such directions to county councils as he thinks necessary for securing uniformity of administration and otherwise for carrying the provisions of this Act and of any such Order into effect, and it shall be the duty of county councils to comply with any directions so given.

(6) Any Order in Council made under this section may be varied or revoked by a subsequent Order so made.

S-6 Exemptions from duty.

6 Exemptions from duty.

(1) No duty shall be chargeable under this Act in respect of mechanically propelled vehicles of any of the following descriptions, that is to say—

(a ) fire engines;

(b ) vehicles kept by a local authority while they are used or kept on a road for the purposes of their fire brigade service;

(c ) ambulances;

(d ) road rollers;

(e ) vehicles used on tram lines, not being tramcars used for the conveyance of passengers;

(f ) vehicles used or kept on a road for no purpose other than the haulage of lifeboats and the conveyance of the necessary gear of the lifeboats which are being hauled;

(g ) vehicles (including cycles with an attachment for propelling them by mechanical power) which do not exceed six hundredweight in weight unladen and are adapted, and used or kept on a road, for invalids;

(h ) road construction vehicles used or kept on a road solely for the conveyance of built-in road construction machinery (with or without articles or material used for the purposes of that machinery);

(i ) vehicles constructed or adapted, and used, solely for the conveyance of machinery for spreading material on roads to deal with frost, ice or snow or for the conveyance of such machinery and articles and material used for the purposes of the machinery.

(2) A mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act by reason of its use for clearing snow from public roads by means of a snow plough or similar contrivance, whether forming part of the vehicle or not, or by reason of its being kept for such use or by reason of its use for the purpose of going to or from the place where it is to...

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