The Government is considering scrapping the vehicle excise duty car tax disc in favour of an online version.
Ending the need for motorists to fix the paper disc to their windscreens is being looked at in the light of the growth of computer records on motoring.
The end of the road for the tax disc is one of the options being considered as part of proposed reforms to motor service agency operations put forward by Roads Minister Stephen Hammond.
In a consultation document, the Government talked of removing "the need for unnecessary paper including abolishing the driving licence paper counterpart and considering the continuing need for the tax disc".
Mr Hammond said: "If you drive, run a business or pay taxes you will be a customer of ours and I hope you will have your say about how we can improve the services we offer you.
"Much progress has already been achieved and it is now much easier to use digital services to get driving licences and sort out vehicle tax. We have also already announced that we are bringing the driving test closer to customers by exploring a range of different locations, such as colleges and retail premises.
"But there is more that can be done and this consultation is about the Government listening to its customers before agreeing the way forward."
Tax discs were introduced in the UK in 1921 following the implementation of the Road and Finance Act 1920. Most cars that use public roads in the UK must display at tax disc.
The cost for vehicle excise duty is based on carbon emissions, with Band A cars, which produce up to 100g of carbon dioxide per kilometre, paying nothing annually and Band M vehicles, which create over 256g of CO2 per km, facing a £460 charge.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article