Paying VED monthly by direct debit has been available since 22nd October 2014: They say "the first payment will not be taken before the 1st day that the vehicle tax is due to start. You won’t be asked to make a payment at the time you arrange the direct debit." So actually, your d/d started on 1st November, 2015, leaving the car untaxed from 10th to 31st October. Normally when a d/d starts at a later date you can make a one-off direct payment to cover the preceding period, but you can't to pay VED. So monthly VED cannot apply to used cars. If you bought a car on 10th October you would have to tax it for 6 months or 12 months, retrospectively from 1st October. Further evidence that no one with a brain thought the new VED system through before it was implemented or even thought to warn 2nd hand purchasers that it did not apply to them.