But I do understand.

Completely.

My grandpa had a job in his retirement collecting tax discs (from the central Tax disc place in the big town locally) for car dealerships who were taxing lots of cars a month. I used to go with him in the holidays.

I mentioned to my other half that my 31/07/2015 tax disc was probably the last one I would get, and he didn't know they were stopping them, so I was interested in your post.

I always used scissors to get the disc out. Ah - the past tense...

Scissors:)

Mr BW tells me that most of the Vehicle Licensing Offices have now shut. And car dealerships now licence your new vehicle electronically and the tax disc arrives(d) in the post. Those little jobs for the old boys diminish all the time.

I've also just discovered that remaining car tax will no longer transfer with a vehicle when it is sold... also from October 1st... the refund will come to you automatically when you notify DVLA of the sale. And the new owner will have to get their new tax pronto.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes

And... my concerns about abandoned vehicles... I have also just discovered that there is a new service for checking that a vehicle has tax, just as one can check for MOT.

Here: https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax

AND it has a 'report an untaxed vehicle' button :)

That last link is great fun for finding out how long any vehicle you've ever (since the late 80s at least) owned/known went on for before it was scrapped :)

I now know that not only did the young lad who bought my oft-mourned and missed 205 (the best car I ever had) get a speeding ticket three days after we sold it in 2001 (coincidentally from the fixed speed camera right outside where Mr BW works, hence I initially thought the worst when the ticket came through the post), but he wrote it off within three weeks. *sighs*

I need tax from 1 October - do I still get a disc? I hope so...

I attempted a few years ago to report untaxed vehicles through the webpage; it seemed pointless as they wanted to know precisely where the vehicle was parked. I saw them practically every day on the walk to work, but in residents' bays which meant they could be anywhere along quite long roads or even anywhere on surrounding streets.

As for those on foreign plates, which sit on UK roads without tax, insurance or MOT? Council not only blatently ignore them but assist offenders by renewing parking permits year on year.

We will also be getting one of the last batch of disks. I won't miss the 'can I tear the paper circle' game though - after I came very close to tearing a disk I've used scissors in recent years.

Actually, no disk will be quite good for me. I have been known to pay the road tax and carry it around in my bag for days. Remembering to put it in the car was obviously quite challenging too!

That Tax Disc checker is fascinating....my beloved Polo (first car) lasted another 6 years (at least) after I sold it with 96,000 miles on the clock! Excellent!