The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has warned motorists to make sure they are paying a necessary expense for their vehicle.

Taking to their page on the social media site X, previously known as Twitter, the organisation reminded motorists that they must make sure that their vehicle is correctly taxed.

The post suggested that the DVLA’s road tax service is easy and secure to use, however warned drivers that it is incredibly difficult to hide an untaxed car that is still on the road.

Whilst the warning may seem trivial, studies conducted by the Government estimate that there are around 719,000 unlicensed vehicles across the country.

This is said to represent a loss of £119 million in vehicle tax revenue, which typically helps to fund local council budgets, services and improving the standards of the road network.

Driving or parking a vehicle on a public road when it is untaxed is considered a serious offence, with the DVLA able to impose a number of penalties.

In addition to having the legal authority to clamp any untaxed vehicles, charging owners a penalty fee of £100 to remove it, drivers who have not paid road tax will likely face a severe fine.

Depending on the vehicle in question, this could be a fixed fine of £1,000 or five times the amount that the road tax would have cost, whichever is highest.

In order to prevent drivers from forgetting that the road tax is due on their vehicle, the DVLA will send both postal reminders and emails to motorists ahead of the current expiry date.

From here, motorists should go to the DVLA’s website, where they can pay for six or 12 months of road tax for their vehicle, which will come into effect when the current tax expires.

Motorists can also set up a Direct Debit service, either online or at a Post Office, which will automatically pay for road tax any time it is due.

In addition, there are currently a number of cars on the roads which are exempt from paying road tax, however still need to register the vehicle with the DVLA to avoid facing penalties.

These inclue electric vehicles, which are free from paying for road tax until 2025, models under a disability exemption, and classic cars that are over 40 years old.

In these cases, the driver will still receive a letter from the DVLA and need to go onto their website to register the vehicle for free.