Big scary tax man advice

Hey guys

So who knew a vehicles SORN could 'run out'? Well, probably most of you did but I certainly didn't know that 4 years ago when I bought my golf.
The car was SORN when I bought it but I never received a reminder that the SORN was about to run out.

Hopefully the golfie will be back on the road by summer, so at some point she'll need taxing.
I mentioned it to the DVLA on the phone whilst getting a new logbook and they recommended writing them a letter and being honest and they're usually pretty nice about it. But on the other hand they might not even chase it up ever - I've never had any letters regarding fines or penalties or reminders. So I don't know if it's worth flagging it up incase they'd not otherwise notice. But they could also at any point issue me a fine for roughly £320…

Any advice or anyone who's had a similar problem or just taken the risk and carried on like nothing happened ?

Cheers,
Lois

I thought you used to have to SORN the car every year but that then the law was changed and once SORN'd it stayed that way until you applied for a road license again.
Andy

but that was a relatively recent change, certainly had to resorn back then

Hmm possibly, but even so the guy on the phone was pretty sure that I was going to get in trouble and fined at some point, which implies it doesn't make a difference if the law has changed. Anyone know roughly when it changed?

But then again he works for the DVLA and it's his job to get our money haha

Thanks guys

Sounds a bit rubbish..but had similar threat..I bought a car without v5.and it's 25£ for replacement. Then told if don't sorn then I'm at fault. So if I don't inform when purchase how could I be liable. The cars been untaxed since 2001.  Better resorn  and then not expect anything yo happen. 

I thought the new sorn notice was a do it once thing

Do you mean you did not SORN it when you bought it? It is not transferable between owners.

I assumed that if anything, the existing SORN from the previous owner would continue over until it ran out the following year - just like a ta disc. But I just thought it would continue anyway.

The question is what should I do now, declare it and write them a letter or just carry on and hope they don't notice?

Thanks guys

Sorn doesn't run out nowadays

But as dubboy says it's not transferable to a new owner

I think if it was going on the road soon I wouldn't worry about it, but if its going to be kept of road for a while I would sorn it and plead ignorance if questioned, although its no defense

The SORN runs out when the vehicle is sold, just like the Tax it's no longer transferable.