Three million cars still displaying a tax disc

Three million drivers have yet to remove their windscreen tax discs, despite there no longer being any legal requirement for them.

A new survey of more than 18,000 people found that 11 per cent of drivers still show the tax discs in their windscreens, despite them being abolished three years ago.

The disc was scrapped in October 2014 with the DVLA moving to an online system, although you’ll still get a letter in the post to remind you to pay up.

£41 million worth of fines due to unpaid vehicle excise duty were handed out in 2016.

Five per cent of drivers said that they retained their discs as a reminder for when their tax is due, while another five per cent though that their cars ended up “looking weird without one”.

The poll was conducted by breakdown service the AA.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “There is a sense of nostalgia with keeping a tax disc, but for many it provides a tax and MOT test reminder too.

“The DVLA is trying to encourage people to update their records so that reminder letters are sent to the correct address, rather than an old one, but with an increase in fines for unpaid vehicle excise duty, there are questions around the process for buying cars privately.

“It’s probably too early to call for the return of the tax disc, but there’s clearly still some affection for a little circle of paper on a windscreen!”

Despite the nostalgia, 61 per removed their tax discs back in 2014, while 23 per cent said that they had bought other vehicles since 2014 and these hadn’t come with a disc.