# Verification record — `gb/dvla/vehicle-tax` v1.0.0 This file is the **source-review record** for this document version, per the [`manual-source-review-v1`](../../../../../practices/manual-source-review-v1.md) practice. It documents the provenance of the published fields and flow and states the current verification claim honestly. ## Current claim - **`status`:** `draft` - **`verification.method`:** `manual-source-review-v1` - **`verification.lastVerifiedAt`:** `2026-07-01` The document was **derived from and cross-checked against** the official sources below, but the full field-by-field comparison the practice requires (`manual-source-review-v1` → Procedure step 2) has **not** yet been completed and recorded against the live online service at `vehicletax.service.gov.uk`. It therefore remains `draft`, not `verified`. ## Sources examined - **Document `(id, version)`:** `gb/dvla/vehicle-tax` / `1.0.0` - **Spec version:** GovSchema `0.2.0` - **Authority:** Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). - **Primary source URL:** - **Secondary sources:** - (reference-document alternatives to the V11 reminder) - and its "Change how often you pay" sub-page (Direct Debit setup and payment-frequency rules) - (exemption categories) - **Official form id:** none. Vehicle tax has no downloadable paper form equivalent to the D1/ITR-E precedents used for other reference schemas. DVLA's own guidance states the D1/D2/D4 application packs are Post-Office-only and are for driving licences, not vehicle tax. The online service itself sits behind an authenticated flow at `vehicletax.service.gov.uk` with no published field-by-field specification of its screens. - **Retrieved / reviewed:** 2026-07-01 (all sources confirmed live at authoring time) - **Reviewer:** GovSchema Engineering (initial authoring source-review) ## Why GOV.UK guidance prose was used as the field-level source Unlike `gb/co/register-to-vote` (ITR-E fillable PDF) or `gb/hmrc/self-assessment-tax-return-sa100` (SA100 fillable PDF), vehicle tax has no equivalent paper form to extract field-by-field. The GOV.UK guidance pages are themselves the most authoritative public description of what the service asks for: the "What you'll need" section of the landing page, the reference-number formats and digit counts on the "without a reminder" sub-page, the Direct Debit setup and frequency-change sub-pages, and the exemption-category list. This document transcribes those into fields; it is a **guidance-derived**, not a **form-derived**, schema, and that distinction is recorded so consumers weigh its confidence accordingly. ## What was confirmed against the source | Source element | Field(s) | |---|---| | "What you'll need" — V11 reminder, V5C log book, new keeper slip | `referenceDocumentType`, `referenceNumber` | | Reference-number digit counts (16 / 11 / 12 digit) — "without a reminder" page | `referenceNumber` validation range | | MOT evidence (certificate, MOT history screenshot, up to 2-day update lag) | `motEvidenceType` | | "You must tax your vehicle even if... exempt" + exemption categories page | `exemptFromVehicleTax`, `exemptionCategory` | | Northern Ireland Post Office requirement: original MOT certificate + insurance certificate/cover note | `isNorthernIrelandKeeper`, `insuranceEvidenceProvided` | | Payment by Direct Debit or debit/credit card; Direct Debit cannot be set up by phone | `paymentMethod` | | Payment frequency (12 months, 6 months, monthly/6-monthly/annual Direct Debit, 5% surcharge on monthly/6-monthly, must cancel-and-retax to change frequency) | `paymentFrequency` | | Address, date of birth, and bank/building society details needed to set up Direct Debit | `applicantDateOfBirth`, `applicantAddressLine1/Town`, `applicantPostcode`, `bankAccountHolderName`, `bankSortCode`, `bankAccountNumber` | ## Scope and jurisdiction notes - **Whole of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland.** DVLA's vehicle tax service has applied UK-wide since the 2014 abolition of Northern Ireland's separate tax disc; `jurisdiction.country` is `GB` per registry convention for DVLA schemas (matching `gb/dvla/*` sibling entries), even though the process itself covers Northern Ireland too. The Northern-Ireland-specific Post Office requirements are modelled as conditional fields rather than a jurisdiction split. - **The V85/V85/1 reference document** (used for HGVs and some larger vehicles) was named in the discovery catalog note but not independently confirmed in the retrieved sources for this pass; it is **not** included in `referenceDocumentType`'s enum. A future minor version can add it once confirmed. - **Historic-vehicle exemption cutoff** is a rolling date (currently vehicles over 40 years old); the field description states this qualitatively rather than a fixed year, since the cutoff moves each year. - **Fees/rates are intentionally not encoded**, consistent with other reference schemas (e.g. `us/ca/dmv/drivers-license-renewal`). DVLA vehicle tax rates change annually and are out of scope for a field-collection schema. - Conditional requiredness (Direct Debit bank/address/DOB fields; Northern Ireland insurance evidence; `exemptionCategory` only when `exemptFromVehicleTax` is true) cannot be expressed structurally in v0.2 and is recorded in field descriptions, per the limitation tracked in GSP-0004. ## What is NOT yet independently verified - The exact **screen order and wording** of the live `vehicletax.service.gov.uk` online flow were not captured screen-by-screen; this document is derived from the surrounding GOV.UK guidance pages, which describe what the service needs but not its literal screen text. - The **V85/V85/1** HGV reference-document path noted in the discovery catalog entry was not confirmed and is excluded pending a follow-up review. - Whether a name field is separately collected during the online flow (as opposed to being read from the V5C/reference lookup) was not confirmed; it is omitted here on the assumption that DVLA resolves the keeper's name from the reference number, matching the "What you need" list which does not mention a name field outside the Direct Debit bank details. ## Path to a `verified` claim (next step) To advance to `status: verified`, a reviewer applies `manual-source-review-v1` (Procedure step 2 field-by-field against the live `vehicletax.service.gov.uk` online flow specifically, step 3 flow), confirms the source is authoritative, resolves any discrepancy by shipping a **new schema version** (immutability — VERSIONING §3, practice Procedure step 5), and records the outcome here plus sets `status: verified` with a current `verification.lastVerifiedAt`/`nextReviewBy`. ## Re-verification Per the practice's **Cadence**, `nextReviewBy` is set to **2027-01-01** (6 months). Re-check the source on or before that date and on any `source.url` change.