According to reports by The Times, more than a million drivers a year are exploiting a loophole in the enforcement of vehicle licensing law that allows them to pay less road tax. The DVLA has been aware of the loophole for at least four years but has failed to close it, costing the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds in lost revenue. This comes on top of estimates that up to four out of ten motorcyclists are evading road tax.

Since 2004 the DVLA has issued automatic £80 fines to drivers who do not renew their tax discs. But it does not identify evaders until the end of the second month after a disc expires. If drivers skip a month’s tax and renew their disc at the beginning of the second month, they will not be sent a fine. They can repeat the evasion every six months.

There is little risk of being caught displaying an out-of-date disc because police unofficially give at least 14 days’ grace to those displaying expired discs. There has also been a sharp fall in the number of traffic police, meaning that drivers are unlikely to be stopped later in the month.

The DVLA has only 66 enforcement officers for the whole country, and they recover an average of only £35,000 a year each in unpaid road tax — barely enough to cover the cost of employing them. A DVLA spokesman said that 100,000 drivers a month were skipping a month’s tax.

The report said that the DVLA’s enforcement of road tax for motorcycles risks becoming “a complete laughing stock”. The MPs called on the DVLA to work with police and local councils to carry out more on-road checks, and use new powers to check bikes being driven off the public highway.

For more information on how to tax your vehicle visit: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/index.htm