Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 (Repealed 1.9.1994)

5 Exemptions from duty in connection with vehicle testing, etc.U.K.

(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 [F1section 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 [F2section 66(3) of that Act] a vehicle licence cannot be so granted, an examination under regulations under [F3section 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 [F4section 61(2)(a)] of that Act (in connection with alterations to goods vehicles subject to type approval requirements) or for the purposes of [F5section 60] of that Act (appeals);

• “the relevant certificate” means a test certificate as defined in subsection (2) of the said [F6section 45], a goods vehicle test certificate as defined in the said [F6section 49], a type approval certificate or a Minister’s approval certificate as defined in the said [F6sections 54 to 58];

• “authorised person” in the case of a compulsory test under the said [F7section 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 [F8section 68 of the Road Traffic Act 1988] or a certifying officer appointed under Part III of [F9the M1Road Traffic Act 1960].

[F10(4)In its application to Northern Ireland, this section shall have effect as if—

(a)in subsection (2) for the word “Minister’s” there were substituted “Department’s”; and

(b)for subsection (3) there were substituted the following subsection—

“(3)In this section—

• “authorised person” means an inspector of vehicles within the meaning of Article 2(2) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981;

• “compulsory test” means an examination to obtain a vehicle test certificate under Article 33 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 without which a vehicle licence cannot be obtained for the vehicle under this Act, or an examination to obtain a goods vehicle certificate, public service vehicle licence or certificate of inspection under Article 53, 60(1) or 67 respectively of that Order;

• “the relevant certificate” means a vehicle test certificate, a goods vehicle certificate, a public service vehicle licence (those expressions having the same meanings as they have in the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981) a certificate of inspection within the meaning of Article 67(2) of that Order, a type approval certificate within the meaning of Article 31A of that Order or a Department’s approval certificate within the meaning of that Article.””]