The British paper car tax disc will soon be a thing of the past when it will be replaced with an electronic system on October 1.
Motorists will have to register their vehicle online to pay road tax, the Vehicle Excise Duty, on the DVLA website or in a Post Office branch.
Cameras on the road track number plates, so any vehicles not registered for tax will be detected and the owner likely to be fined.
Any remaining paid tax on a car will no longer be transferred to a new purchaser, as it will no longer go with the car. A buyer will have to pay for their own tax straight away or else it will be untaxed when on the road.
Sellers will get an automatic refund for any full calendar months left on the vehicle tax. But the seller is responsible for informing the DVLA of the change of ownership. Failure could result in a fine of up to £1,000.
Paul Watters, head of roads policy at the AA, said: "This is a huge change and vehicle owners and drivers need to be aware of the rules. A driver, not registered owner, can be issued a non-endorsable fixed penalty for driving an untaxed car. An owner can be fined £80 for using an untaxed vehicle (one not registered off the road) and can be charged any back tax."
The new system is designed to ensure that all vehicles on the road have the appropriate tax.
It is believed that there as many as 36 million tax discs currently in use.
The paper portion of a driving licence, which goes along with the photo-card, is also due to be ended in January 2015.
