The Government have now implemented a rolling programme to exempt all vehicles more than 40 years old from MOT testing and paying road tax.

For your Jaguar or Daimler vehicle to be tax exempt, it must have been manufactured before 1st January – 40 years ago from the current tax year. (A new tax year begins on the 1st April) E.g. On the 1st April 2018, any vehicle manufactured before the 1st January 1978 will be tax exempt.

There are vehicles which were registered after 1 January but which were manufactured before this date. This could include;

• Cars built in the latter part of the previous year which may have been held in factory or dealer stocks, and sold and registered in the following year.
• Cars which were originally sold and registered outside the UK mainland, which could have been brought back here when they were nearly new, and first registered in the UK when they were a year or two old. (This typically applies to cars originally sold in the Channel Islands, in Northern Ireland and Eire, in the Isle of Man, or as Personal Export Tax-Free Deliveries, for instance to personnel serving with the British Army or Embassies overseas.)
• Cars which were originally sold in export markets such as the USA, but which have been re-imported as classic cars in recent years.
• Cars which were laid up and not taxed for long periods, and where the original log book was lost, may have been recorded by the DVLA with a ‘date of first registration’ relating to the date when they were re-registered, typically in the 1970s or early 1980s.

These cars will be tax-exempt, if the DVLA is satisfied of their correct manufacturing date.

Regarding MOT testing, any vehicle registered or manufactured more than 40 years ago will no longer need an MOT test but owners can still voluntarily choose to put their vehicles through the testing process.

For more information on MOT or tax exemption, please visit https://www.gov.uk/historic-vehicles.

To help determine whether or not your own Jaguar or Daimler car is MOT and tax exempt, Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust can advise on request the month and year of manufacture for your vehicle. You can do this by submitting a ‘Research Enquiry’ by clicking here.

Please note, this information is provided by email and will not be accepted by registration authorities. If you require a formal document, to satisfy the requirements of the DVLA, only a Heritage Certificate will be accepted.