We will actually lose something when we get rid of our motor tax discs
Ireland is phasing out physical motor tax discs, ending a long-standing tradition of drivers stacking expired discs on their windscreens. The author reflects on the cultural significance of these small paper artifacts and the nostalgia associated with them.
Why it matters
The transition highlights the digitization of government services and the loss of tangible, everyday objects that serve as markers of personal history.
IF YOU EVER find yourself seated next to a velologist at a dinner party, settle in.
Velology is the study and collection of tax discs, and yes, it is a real word, with a real community behind it, an active Facebook group swapping scans of rare finds, and a proper publication, The Velologist, running for decades.
A rare 1921 disc, from the very first year of issue, holds the collectors’ record at over £1,300. Someone out there has spent more on a scrap of expired paper than most people spend taxing an actual car for a year, and they will happily tell you why, at length, given the chance.
Velologists are about to have a bittersweet couple of years, because the object of their affection is being phased out.
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