Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 section 19

Rebates

Section 19 sets out the circumstances in which a vehicle owner is entitled to a rebate of vehicle excise duty already paid, and explains how the rebate amount is calculated.

• A rebate of vehicle excise duty is available when certain qualifying conditions are met, such as the vehicle being stolen, destroyed, sold, exported permanently, taken off the road, or where a new licence application is needed due to a change in duty classification.
• The rebate is calculated as one-twelfth of the annual duty rate (at the time the licence was taken out) for each complete month remaining on the unexpired licence, with special rules applying to first vehicle licences and to higher-rate vehicles valued over £40,000.
• When a rebate condition is satisfied, the existing vehicle licence generally ceases to be in force, except in the specific case of HGV levy-related applications, where the licence ends on a date linked to the levy rebate period.
• The Secretary of State may impose procedural requirements — such as electronic submission of information or reporting a theft to the police — that must be met before a rebate condition is treated as satisfied.