Life is busy enough without wasting hours of precious time standing in a post office queue every six or 12 months to renew your road tax.

It’s even more of a chore if you’re a small business owner or a multicar family and have to do it for several vehicles.

Today, the job can be accomplished quickly and easily by doing it online.

You can renew your tax disc or Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN) on the DVLA’s Vehicle Licensing website.

It only takes a few minutes and can be done 24 hours a day.

Why it makes sense to renew online

When you apply online there’s no need to have any insurance or MOT documents to hand, as the checks are done automatically.

Your car insurance details are run through the Motor Insurance Database, while your MOT is validated against records of MOT test results

Sorting out your car tax online takes minutes and you never have to leave the sofa.

How do you do it?

1. Go to the DLVA https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax and click on the green 'Start now' button
2. Fill in the 16 digit reference number from your v11 reminder OR the 11 digit reference number on your log book (V5C) the 12 digit reference number on your new keeper supplement (V5C/2) ifyou've bought the vehicle
3. Verify your vehicle details
4. Choose how you want to pay (monthly,every six months or every 12 months) and enter your payment card details.
5. Double check and enter an email address or mobile number for confirmation.
6. Enter payment details
7. You'll get a reference number and that's it.

No more tax discs

Since October 2014, you no longer need to display a disc on your windscreen, so don’t sit by the letterbox waiting for one. They’re now extinct.

Today, road tax dodgers are caught by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, which track all cars, and trigger fines of up to £1,000 for drivers who don’t have it.

And don’t worry about forgetting to renew your tax because there’s no disc - the DVLA will still issue a reminder when your renewal is due.

Note: In Northern Ireland, drivers still have to display their MOT discs, but not their tax discs.

How to pay

In a move that’s going to make home finances easier to manage for many, you can now pay for your vehicle tax monthly via direct debit. (Not an option for first registration vehicles, fleet schemes or HGVs).

If you choose direct debit, payments will continue automatically for as long as you hold a valid MOT, or until you cancel the direct debit or inform the DVLA that you no longer have the car.

However, be aware there is a 5% charge for paying monthly or six-monthly.

Is there anything else to be aware of?

Yes, when it comes to selling your car, you can no longer transfer the tax with your vehicle. Instead, your existing tax will be cancelled automatically when you tell the DVLA that you have sold the vehicle. It’s then the new owner’s responsibility to arrange new tax and you’ll receive an automatic refund for any remaining months.

Bear in mind refunds are only given for full calendar months remaining.

The same process applies if you declare your vehicle off road or notify the DVLA that it has been exported.

What if my car’s no longer on the road?

You’ll need to make a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) if:

• You’re not using your vehicle
• Not keeping it on a public road
• Not wanting to pay road tax - for example if you’re storing a classic car for the winter

You can arrange SORN online, by calling 0300 123 4321 or at a post office. You can submit the application up to two months in advance.

What about classic cars and other tax-exempt vehicles?

If your car is exempt from vehicle excise duty you don’t have to pay anything, but still need to register each year on the DVLA website.

Am I still able to drive abroad?

While most European countries require some form of tax disc or sticker on the windscreen the British government has told the European authorities have been told about UK’s tax disc changes.

Can I check if a vehicle is taxed correctly?

You can look up the tax status of any vehicle by using DVLA's Vehicle Enquiry System.

Be it tutorials, news, music, pranks or memories with your friends and family, there is no denying the fact that videos are the best way to relive the first-hand experience of them all. As such, you may want to download videos and save them for later viewing.

But how do we do that? With the overwhelming number of tools, extensions, and software available on the Internet, it is really easy to get confused about which one to choose.

Worry no more, as we bring to you a list of some of the best alternatives which shall enable you to download almost any video from the internet. But keep in mind, that you should only download videos when you have the copyright owner’s permission, otherwise it shall be considered an illegal act.

How to Download Facebook Videos

Facebook has been growing at such a pace that other social networking platforms have been left far behind. In fact, Facebook has been prioritizing videos and even plans on challenging Google’s video business. Since the days when people used to share trending videos on FB have been replaced by ways in which Facebook itself makes stuff viral, you might want to download Facebook videos on your device now and then. Here’s how:

FBVideoDL.com

FBVideoDL.com is another useful website for downloading Facebook videos. The website is very resourceful and allows you to download public and private Facebook videos, download Facebook page photo albums with a host of other options.

FBDown

FBDown is a great tool for downloading Facebook videos. Open a Facebook video, right-click and choose the “Show Video URL” option.

Once you do that, the URL will pop up in a small window. Copy this URL

Now open FBDown, paste the URL and hit “Download” to download the required Facebook video. This method works only for those Facebook videos whose privacy is set to ‘Public’. What’s more, FBDown also comes with its own Google Chrome extension, just in case you feel lazy about leaving the site just to download a video.

Recommended: A Complete Guide On Facebook Tips And Tricks

How to Download YouTube Videos

Think video and the first word to automatically pop up in your head would be YouTube. With over 1 billion users uploading more than 300 hours of awe-inspiring videos to the site every minute, YouTube has a Pandora’s Box worth of videos to everyone’s liking. In order to download videos from YouTube, you can use one of the following services:

Savefrom.net

In order to download YouTube videos from savefrom.net, all you need to do is add ‘ss’ after ‘www’ in the URL of the YouTube video.
You will be redirected to a page where you can download the video in the desired quality and format

KeepVid

Another reliable way to download YouTube videos is KeepVid. All you have to do is to copy and paste the URL of the YouTube video and then click on the “Download” button. The next screen provides you with the option to choose the quality and format of your liking. Choose one and hit “Download”.

ClipConverter.cc

Yet another alternative for downloading YouTube videos is Clip Converter. It is a free online media recorder application which will allow you to record, convert and download nearly any audio or video URL to common formats. In order to download a YouTube video, paste your YouTube URL at Video URL and press “Continue”. Then select the format and the options for conversion and press “Start”. Once the conversion is finished, you would be able to download the converted file.

How to Download Twitter Videos

Without any doubt, Twitter is one of the most popular social media platforms and as such a great source of videos from your favorite pages, celebrities, friends, and family. In order to download Twitter videos, you can use either of the following services.

Twitter Video Downloader

Twitter Video Downloader is an awesome free tool for downloading Twitter videos and gifs. In order to download the Twitter videos, all you need to do is click on the Tweet, copy its URL, paste it in the input URL box and click on the “Download” button.

TWDown.net

One of the best and most secure free Twitter video downloader online, TWDown generates direct links for your favorite Twitter videos and enables you to save them for offline viewing and sharing. Simply copy and paste the URL of the video in the input box and hit the “Download” button.

Download-Twitter-Videos

This is another reliable site for downloading Twitter videos quickly. Just copy the URL of the Twitter video in the provided box and press the “Download” button to download in the desired quality and format.

How to Download Instagram Videos

Instagram is nothing short of a phenomenon. There is no dearth of people waiting to pout and post selfies, stories or videos all day long. There are numerous ways to download Instagram videos, here are some:

Insta-downloader

Instagram Downloader is the best Instagram photos and videos downloader that makes your job very simple. All you need to do is copy the URL and paste in the specified box at the top of the website. One should note that it’s the only website that lets you download the entire catalog of photos and videos in one go. Do check it out, you won’t regret it.

DreDown

In order to download Instagram videos, simply find the URL of the video that you would like to download, paste that URL into the field and hit the “Dredown” button.

SaveDEO

Another possible alternative for downloading Instagram videos is SaveDEO. The procedure is the same as the one stated previously, copy-paste the URL and press the “Download” button to download the video.

Download-Instagram-Videos

You can download Instagram videos in a few seconds using this service without any fuss. Just enter the Instagram URL that you would like to download and choose the quality and format in which you would like to do so. As simple as that.

Final words

The tools mentioned above should only be used for downloading free online videos for personal use. Different websites have different policies and it is recommended that you review these policies carefully and proceed at your own risk. Fossbytes in no way encourages the illegal distribution or duplication of copyrighted content. Before downloading, copying or distributing any video content online make sure you are not violating the law.

Did you like our guide on how to download any video from the internet or feel that we might have missed out on something? Let us know in comments below