Back in the day, if you were trying to sell your car, you could sweeten any deal by mentioning how many months' road tax was left on the car. If it had a 12-month tax disc in the window, there could be a couple of hundred extra quid in the sale for the seller, while buyers could negotiate a discount on a car that was due to be taxed in the coming months.
However, that's not the case today. If you sell your car, and there is outstanding road tax on it, you now get the remaining amount paid back to you in a car tax refund when you inform the DVLA that you no longer own it. This also applies if you have taken the car off the road (using a Statutory Off Road Notification, or SORN), if it's been written off by your insurance company, it's been scrapped, stolen, exported from the UK, or if it has been registered as tax exempt.
How much road tax can I get refunded?
Once you've told the DVLA that you no longer need road tax, it will be cancelled and you will automatically get a refund for any full months that are left remaining on your vehicle tax.
• The 2017 UK car tax changes explained
If you pay for your car tax by Direct Debit this will be cancelled automatically, while a cheque for the refund amount will be made out and sent to the name and address on the vehicle's V5C registration document. The amount reimbursed will be based on the date that the DVLA receives the confirmation of cancellation. As that's the case, it's best to notify the DVLA as soon as possible so you don't risk losing a months' worth of money unnecessarily.
If you've paid by credit card, paid a Direct Debit surcharge when you applied for the road tax, or paid the 10 per cent surcharge for the one-off six-month road tax payment, then these won't be refunded.
When will my road tax refund arrive?
You should receive a cheque for your road tax refund amount in the post after six weeks. If you haven't, then you need to contact the DVLA tax enquiries department. You can do this by calling 0300 790 6802, Mon to Fri (8am-7pm), or Sat (8am-2pm).
You can also E-mail by following this link: http://ift.tt/2rXlYK7. Or you can get in touch by post at: Vehicle Customer Services, DVLA, Swansea SA99 1AR.
Due to the sheer number of enquiries and cases the DVLA has to deal with, you may need to remain patient. It can take a few weeks for the DVLA to process an application, so you should wait for at least four weeks before you get confirmation that your vehicle is SORNed, and six weeks for a car tax refund, before getting in touch.
Have you had problems getting your road tax refunded? Tell us about it in the comments section below…