25 January 2008
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is losing ground in its fight against vehicle tax evasion, MPs have warned.
The evasion rate for vehicle excise duty rose to 5% in 2006/07, up from 3.6% the previous year, with £214m left unpaid, a report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee reveals.
Figures for tax dodging by motorcyclists were even higher, rising from 30% in 2005/06 to 38% last year.
'The long-standing high and increasing levels of evasion critically undermine the credibility of the DVLA's motorcycle enforcement regime,' the report, published on January 22, says.
It adds that the Department for Transport and the DVLA 'do not have the detailed figures and analysis needed to understand trends in evader behaviour and to target action'.
PAC chair Edward Leigh said: 'Motorists and motorcyclists who refuse to pay road tax are stealing from law-abiding taxpayers, and unlicensed cars are often associated with other forms of crime. And yeat the Department for Transport and the DVLA are losing ground in their fight against evasion.'
PFjan2008
