Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 (Repealed 1.9.1994)

Exemptions from dutyE+W+S

4 Exemptions from duty of certain descriptions of vehicle.E+W+S

(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—

[F1(aa)electrically propelled vehicles;]

(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;

[F2(ca)veterinary ambulances;]

(d)road rollers;

(e)vehicles used on tram lines, . . . F3;

(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 [F4ten] 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 that machinery;

(j)local authority’s watering vehicles;

(k)tower wagons used solely by a street lighting authority, or by any person acting in pursuance of a contract with such an authority, for the purpose of installing or maintaining materials or apparatus for lighting streets, roads or public places.

[F5(ka)vehicles (other than mowing machines) neither constructed nor adapted for use nor used for the carriage of a driver or passenger;

(kb)vehicles (other than ambulances) used for the carriage of disabled persons by bodies for the time being recognised for the purposes of this paragraph by the Secretary of State;]

F6[(l)vehicles which are made available by the Secretary of State to any person, body or local authority in pursuance of [F7section 23 or sections 26 and 27 of the M1National Health Service Act 1977] and which are used in accordance with the terms on which they are so made available.]

[F8(1A)The Secretary of State shall recognise a body for the purposes of subsection (1)(kb) above if, on application made to him in such manner as he may specify, it appears to him that the body is concerned with the care of disabled persons.

(1B)The issue by the Secretary of State of a nil licence in respect of a mechanically propelled vehicle shall be treated, where the document is issued by virtue of paragraph (kb) of subsection (1) above, as recognition by him for the purposes of that paragraph of the body by reference to whose use of the vehicle the document is issued.

(1C)The Secretary of State may withdraw recognition of a body for the purposes of subsection (1)(kb) above if it appears to him that the body is no longer concerned with the care of disabled persons.

(1D)The reference in subsection (1B) above to the issue by the Secretary of State of a nil licence is a reference to the issue by him in accordance with regulations under this Act of a document which—

(a)is in the form of a vehicle licence, and

(b)has the word “NIL” marked in the space provided for indicating the amount of duty payable.]

(2)In this section—

• [F9“ambulance”means a vehicle which—

(a)is constructed or adapted for, and used for no other purpose than, the carriage of sick, injured or disabled persons to or from welfare centres or places where medical or dental treatment is given; and

(b)is readily identifiable as a vehicle used for the carriage of such persons by virtue of being markedAmbulance on both sides;

• “disabled person”means a person suffering from a physical or mental defect or disability;

• “veterinary ambulance”means a vehicle which—

(a)is used for no other purpose than the carriage of sick or injured animals to or from places where veterinary treatment is given; and

(b)is readily identifiable as a vehicle used for the carriage of such animals by virtue of being marked “Veterinary Ambulance” on both sides;]

• “road construction vehicle” means a vehicle constructed or adapted for use for the conveyance of built-in road construction machinery and not constructed or adapted for the conveyance of any other load except articles and material used for the purposes of that machinery;

• “road construction machinery” means a machine or contrivance suitable for use for the construction or repair of roads and used for no purpose other than the construction or repair of roads at the public expense;

• “built-in road construction machinery”, in relation to a vehicle, means road construction machinery built in as part of the vehicle or permanently attached thereto;

• “local authority’s watering vehicle” means a vehicle used solely within the area of a local authority by that local authority, or by any person acting in pursuance of a contract with that local authority, for the purpose of cleansing or watering roads or cleansing gulleys;

• [F10“tower wagon”means a goods vehicle—

(a)into which there is built, as part of the vehicle, any expanding or extensible contrivance designed for facilitating the erection, inspection, repair or maintenance of overhead structures or equipment, and

(b)which is neither constructed nor adapted for use nor used for the conveyance of any load other than—

(i)such a contrivance and articles used in connection therewith, and

(ii)articles used in connection with the installation or maintenance, by means of such a contrivance, of materials or apparatus for lighting streets, roads or public places]

5 Exemptions from duty in connection with vehicle testing, etc.E+W+S

(1)A mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act by reason of its use on public roads—

(a)solely for the purpose of submitting it by previous arrangement for a specified time on a specified date for, or bringing it away from, a compulsory test; or

(b)in the course of a compulsory test, solely for the purpose of taking it to, or bringing it away from, any place where a part of the test is to be or, as the case may be, has been carried out, or of carrying out any part of the test, the person so using it being an authorised person; or

(c)where the relevant certificate is refused on a compulsory test, solely for the purpose of delivering it by previous arrangement for a specified time on a specified date at a place where work is to be done on it to remedy the defects on the ground of which the certificate was refused, or bringing it away from a place where work has been done on it to remedy such defects.

(2)In paragraph (c) above the reference to work done or to be done on the vehicle to remedy the defects there mentioned is, in a case where the relevant certificate which is refused is a test certificate, a reference to work done or to be done to remedy those defects for a further compulsory test and includes, in a case where the relevant certificate which is refused is a goods vehicle test certificate, type approval certificate or Minister’s approval certificate, a reference to work done or to be done to alter the vehicle in some aspect of design, construction, equipment or marking on account of which the certificate was refused.

(3)In this section—

• “compulsory test” means an examination under [F11section 45 of the Road Traffic Act 1988] with a view to obtaining a test certificate without which a vehicle licence cannot be granted for the vehicle under this Act or, in the case of a goods vehicle for which by virtue of [F12section 66(3) of that Act] a vehicle licence cannot be so granted, an examination under regulations under [F13section 49 or for the purposes of sections 54 to 58] of that Act (examinations as to a goods vehicle’s compliance with construction and use or type approval requirements respectively) or an examination under regulations under [F14section 61(2)(a)] of that Act (in connection with alterations to goods vehicles subject to type approval requirements) or for the purposes of [F15section 60] of that Act (appeals);

• “the relevant certificate” means a test certificate as defined in subsection (2) of the said [F16section 45], a goods vehicle test certificate as defined in the said [F16section 49], a type approval certificate or a Minister’s approval certificate as defined in the said [F16sections 54 to 58];

• “authorised person” in the case of a compulsory test under the said [F17section 45] means a person authorised as an examiner or appointed as an inspector under that section or acting on behalf of a person so authorised, or a person acting under the personal direction of such a person as aforesaid; and in the case of any other compulsory test means a goods vehicle examiner or a person carrying out the test under his direction or a person driving the vehicle in pursuance of a requirement to do so under regulations under which the compulsory test is carried out;

• “goods vehicle examiner” means an examiner appointed under [F18section 68 of the Road Traffic Act 1988] or a certifying officer appointed under Part III of [F19the M2Road Traffic Act 1960].

6 Exemptions from duty in respect of vehicles acquired by overseas residents.E+W+S

—[F20

(1)A mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act if it has been supplied to the person keeping it by a taxable person within the meaning of [F21section 2(2) of the Value Added Tax Act 1983] and the supply has been zero-rated in pursuance of [F21subsection (7) of section 16] of that Act; but if, at any time, the value added tax that would have been chargeable on the supply but for the zero-rating becomes payable under [F21subsection (9)] of that section, or would have become so payable but for any authorisation or waiver under that subsection, then the provisions of subsection (3) below shall apply in relation to that vehicle.]

(2)Where in the case of any mechanically propelled vehicle it is shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State—

(a)that the vehicle is not chargeable with purchase tax; and

(b)that the vehicle is being acquired from a person who is for the time being registered as a manufacturer of such vehicles by the Secretary of State and who is the manufacturer of the vehicle for the purposes of that register; and

(c)that the person so acquiring the vehicle would fall to be treated as an overseas resident for the purposes of the said section 23,

the Secretary of State may exempt the vehicle from duty under this Act for a period of twelve months subject to specified conditions, being such conditions as the Secretary of State may from time to time think necessary for the protection of the revenue; but if at any time during those twelve months any of the conditions subject to which the exemption is granted is not complied with, the provisions of subsection (3) below shall apply in relation to the vehicle.

(3)Where under subsection (1) or (2) above the provisions of this subsection are to apply in relation to a vehicle, the vehicle shall be deemed never to have been exempted from duty under the said subsection (1) or (2) and, without prejudice to the provisions of section 9 of this Act, unless, or except to the extent that, the Secretary of State sees fit to waive payment of the whole or part of the duty, there shall be recoverable by the Secretary of State as a debt due to him—

(a)from the person by whom the vehicle was acquired from its manufacturer, the duty in respect of the whole period since the registration of the vehicle; or

(b)from any other person who is for the time being the keeper of the vehicle, the duty in respect of the period since the vehicle was first kept by that other person,

other than any part of that period by reference to which there was calculated an amount ordered to be paid by the person in question in respect of the vehicle in pursuance of section 9(1) of this Act.

7 Miscellaneous exemptions from duty.E+W+S

(1)If an applicant for a vehicle licence satisfies the Secretary of State that the vehicle is intended to be used on public roads—

(a)only in passing from land in his occupation to other land in his occupation, and

(b)for distances not exceeding in the aggregate six miles in any calendar week,

then, with the consent of the Treasury, the Secretary of State may exempt the vehicle from the duty chargeable under this Act in respect of the use of the vehicle on roads; but if a vehicle so exempted is used on public roads otherwise than for the purpose or to the extent specified above, the vehicle shall cease to be exempted.

F22[(2)A mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act by reason of its use by or for the purposes of a person (“a disabled person”) suffering from a physical defect or disability or by reason of its being kept for such use if—

(a)it is registered under this Act in the name of that person; and

(b)he has obtained, or is eligible for, a grant under paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the M3National Health Service Act 1977 [F23or section 46(3) of the M4National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978] in relation to that vehicle or is in receipt of a mobility allowance [F24or a mobility supplement]; and

(c)no other vehicle registered in his name under this Act is exempted from duty under this subsection or section 7 of the M5Finance Act 1971;

and for the purposes of this subsection a vehicle shall be deemed to be registered in the name of a disabled person in receipt of a mobility allowance [F24or a mobility supplement] if it is registered in the name of [F25an appointee] or in the name of a person nominated for the purposes of this subsection by the disabled person or by [F25an appointee].]

[F26(2A)In subsection (2) above—

• “mobility supplement”means a mobility supplement under—

(a)a scheme made under the Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act M61939, or

(b)an Order in Council made under section 12 of the Social Security (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act M71977,

or any payment appearing to the Secretary of State to be of a similar kind and specified by him by order made by statutory instrument; and

• “appointee”means—

(i)a person appointed pursuant to regulations under the Social Security Act M8 1975 to exercise any of the rights or powers of a person in receipt of a mobility allowance, or

(ii)a person to whom a mobility supplement is paid for application for the benefit of another person in receipt of the supplement.

(2B)An order under subsection (2A) above may provide that it shall be deemed to have come into force on any date after 20th November 1983.]

(3)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 be used for clearing snow from public roads by those means.

[F27(3A)Regulations under this Act may provide that, in such cases, subject to such conditions and for such period as may be prescribed, a mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act if it has been imported by —

(a)a person for the time being appointed to serve with any body, contingent or detachment of the forces of any prescribed country, being a body, contingent or detachment which is for the time being present in the United Kingdom on the invitation of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, or

(b)a member of any country’s military forces, except Her Majesty’s United Kingdom forces, who is for the time being appointed to serve in the United Kingdom under the orders of any prescribed organisation, or

(c)a person for the time being recognised by the Secretary of State as a member of a civilian component of such a force as is mentioned in paragraph (a) above or as a civilian member of such an organisation as is mentioned in paragraph (b) above, or

(d)any prescribed dependant of a person falling within paragraph (a), paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) above.]

(4)Regulations under this Act may provide that, in such cases and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, a mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act by reason of any use made of it for the purpose of a public or local authority’s functions in connection with civil defence as defined in the M9Civil Defence Act 1948, or by reason of its being kept on a road for any such use, or both.

[F28(4A)A mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be chargeable with any duty under this Act at a time when it is used or kept on a road by a health service body, as defined in section 60(7) of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 or a National Health Service trust established under Part I of that Act or the National Health Service (Scotland) Act M101978.]

(5)Regulations under this Act may provide for the total or partial exemption for a limited period from the duty chargeable under this Act of any mechanically propelled vehicles for the time being licensed under section 1 or 10 of the M11Vehicles (Excise) Act (Northern Ireland) 1954; and, without prejudice to section 37(1) of this Act, regulations made under this subsection may—

(a)make different provision in relation to vehicles of different descriptions;

(b)provide that any exemption conferred by the regulations in respect of any vehicle shall have effect subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.