Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 section 29

Penalty for using or keeping unlicensed vehicle

Section 29 establishes that it is a criminal offence to use or keep a vehicle without the appropriate vehicle excise licence (tax disc), and sets out the penalties and exceptions that apply.

• It is an offence to use or keep a vehicle for which no vehicle licence, trade licence, or (where required) nil licence is in force, with penalties of up to the greater of level 3 on the standard scale or five times the annual vehicle excise duty rate.
• Exempt vehicles with a valid nil licence, exempt vehicles that do not require a nil licence, vehicles not used or kept on a public road where a proper off-road declaration (SORN) has been made and maintained, and vehicles kept by motor traders or vehicle testers at their business premises are all excepted from the offence.
• If a person has made an off-road declaration (SORN) but then commits the offence within a prescribed period, the maximum fine increases from level 3 to level 4 on the standard scale (or five times the annual duty, whichever is greater).
• When a vehicle is transferred to a new owner, the existing vehicle licence is treated as no longer in force for the purposes of this offence, meaning the new keeper must obtain their own licence.

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