Went to tax car but it's already taxed. How is that possible?

[TinCanAlley2]

Car tax due to renew 1st June. Went to tax it and it says it's already taxed until June 2021. How is that possible?

It's because of the lockdown and people not being able to get MOTs done I think. They've done it automatically.

Did you take out a direct debit? I do that so I never have to worry about it

Did you do it last year as direct debit?

No not on DD. Nothing has come out of the bank
Do you still get reminder letter as I didn't get one? Is it possible it's gone to the wrong house and someone not paying attention has paid it in error?

I've just renewed my car tax, it's still needed.

Yes, its possible someone has renewed by mistake, but unlikely, I think - unless you also have a similar car to the people at your new address.

It is worth getting the address on the V5 updated if it is going to the wrong place.
And I'd check the tax position after 1 June too, just incase it's a glitch.

Oh, and yes, I still got a reminder letter.

I don't think it's likely that someone has received the renewal and just done it - doesn't it have the car registration in big letters at the top?

Do you have a partner who most have done it?

That is odd. Mine was due May. Got my renewal letter as usual, went online and paid

It's absolutely not due to lockdown as chungus said - you still need to pay your car tax. Just getting that out there in case anyone gets into bother.

That's very strange op. And you won't be able to speak to anyone at the Dvla at the moment to solve the mystery. It's not become tax exempt due to the type of car it is or something??

We had this when trying to tax a car.
It turned out that someone had taken the number plate and used it on another car of the same model which they were trying to sell probably illegally. The only reason we found out was we went to tax the car not having received a letter and it told us the car was taxed for just under a year.
An online chat with the police confirmed that according to their records we weren't the registered keeper of the vehicle as that had also been changed and that we needed to get on to the DVLA. After about 4 months going backwards and forwards it got sorted and rectified and there is now a police investigation going on about it as it's fairly common.

When you check online if will tell you when the last V5 was issued. Check it's the same date you took possession of the car. If one has been issued more recently it's possible the car has been cloned. If you're not getting reminders you need to check your V5 information is correct.

Yes look up cloned plates - as @slalomsuki experienced it can create lots of issues with registration, insurance and finance if you are paying for the car on a loan/lease.