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Elon Musk’s Tesla fined for repeatedly failing to help UK police over driving offences
Maria Cassidyand
Rachel Broome,BBC Wales
Bloomberg via Getty ImagesTesla has been convicted at least 18 times and ordered to pay more than £20,000 for repeatedly failing to co-operate with UK police forces.
The British arm of Elon Musk’s electric car giant has faced multiple criminal court proceedings over the past two years linked to alleged road traffic offences.
Tesla offers its vehicles on long-term leases, and in such a scenario the leasing company is typically the registered keeper of the car.
Drivers of rented or company cars caught speeding have to be named before they can face prosecution and companies which fail to return paperwork to police can be prosecuted instead.
Almost 4,000 defendants have been convicted in courts in England and Wales in the last two weeks for failing to identify the driver of a vehicle under police investigation, leading to fines ranging from £1 to £1,000.
In one incident, South Wales Police wrote to Tesla Financial Services in a bid to identify the driver of a Tesla which had been speeding at 80mph (128km/h) on the M4 near Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, in July 2025.
Court papers show a Tesla company director, Becky Hodgson, pleaded guilty for the firm by email in late November, saying it had tried to enter the plea online but “encountered a technical issue on the Online Plea Service portal”.
Although the company admitted the criminal charge, Hodgson suggested in her email that it had complied with the police request, adding that its internal processes were followed and the nomination was sent via post.
A conviction was handed out at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court on 6 January and ended in Tesla receiving a £1,000 fine, an order for £120 costs and a £400 victim surcharge.
Getty ImagesAt least 18 convictions recorded against Tesla Financial Services have been identified by the Press Association since the start of 2024, including prosecutions brought by the Metropolitan Police, Hampshire Constabulary and Thames Valley Police.
Seventeen cases have already been sentenced, while Tesla Financial Services pleaded guilty last week to failing to identify a driver. That case is set to be sentenced at a later date at Bath Magistrates’ Court.
In one of the concluded cases, a Tesla driver was caught on a speed camera doing almost 100mph (160km/h) on the A3 in Petersfield in Hampshire.
But due to police letters going unanswered, the speeding driver was not identified and the company received a conviction with a fine instead.
Another Tesla driver was caught speeding three times, potentially putting them on the cusp of a disqualification – if they had been identified.
Letters from police which went unanswered have been addressed to Tesla Financial Services at offices and a service centre in London, as well as an office in Manchester.
In the cases identified, fines, costs and court fees totalling £20,686 have been imposed by magistrates sitting in the single justice procedure, which deals with minor offences.
Tesla have been asked to comment.
India’s budget focuses on infrastructure and defence spending and tax breaks for data-centre investments.
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New Income Tax Act 2025 to come into effect from April 1, key reliefs announced in Budget 2026
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that the Income Tax Act 2025 will come into effect from April 1, 2026, and the I-T forms have been redesigned such that ordinary citizens can comply without difficulty for ease of living.
The new measures include exemption on insurance interest awards, nil deduction certificates for small taxpayers, and extension of the ITR filing deadline for non-audit cases to August 31.
Individuals with ITR 1 and ITR 2 will continue to file I-T returns till July 31.
“In July 2024, I announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act 1961. This was completed in record time, and the Income Tax Act 2025 will come into effect from April 1, 2026. The forms have been redesigned such that ordinary citizens can comply without difficulty, for) ease of living,” she said while presenting the Budget 2026-27
In a move that directly eases cash-flow pressure on individuals making overseas payments, the Union Budget announced lower tax collection at source across key categories.
“I propose to reduce the TCS rate on the sale of overseas tour programme packages from the current 5 per cent and 20 per cent to 2 per cent without any stipulation of amount. I propose to reduce the TCS rate for pursuing education and for medical purposes from 5 per cent to 2 per cent,” said Sitharaman.
She clarified withholding on services, adding that “supply of manpower services is proposed to be specifically brought within the ambit of payment contractors for the purpose of TDS to avoid ambiguity”.
“Thus, TDS on these services will be at the rate of either 1 per cent or 2 per cent only,” she mentioned during her Budget speech.
The Budget also proposes a tax holiday for foreign cloud companies using data centres in India till 2047.
Business
Budget 2026 Live Updates: TCS On Overseas Tour Packages Slashed To 2%; TDS On Education LRS Eased
Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament, her record ninth budget speech. During her Budget Speech, the FM will detail budgetary allocations and revenue projections for the upcoming financial year 2026-27. Sitharaman is notably dressed in a Kanjeevaram Silk saree, a nod to the traditional weaving sector in poll-bound Tamil Nadu.
The budget comes at a time when there is geopolitical turmoil, economic volatility and trade war. Different sectors are looking to get some support with new measures and relaxations ahead of the budget, especially export-oriented industries, which have borne the brunt of the higher US tariffs being imposed last year by the Trump administration.
On January 29, 2026, Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2025-26, a comprehensive snapshot of the country’s macro-economic situation, in Parliament, setting the stage for the budget and showing the government’s roadmap. The survey projected that India’s economy is expected to grow 6.8%-7.2% in FY27, underscoring resilience even as global economic uncertainty persists.
Budget 2026 Expectations
Expectations across key sectors are taking shape as stakeholders look to the Budget for support that sustains growth, strengthens jobs and eases financial pressures:
Taxpayers & Households: Many taxpayers want practical improvements to the income tax structure that preserve simplicity while supporting long-term financial planning — including broader deductions for home loan interest and diversified retirement savings options.
New Tax Regime vs Old Tax Regime | New Income Tax Rules | Income Tax 2026
Businesses & Industry: With industrial output and investment showing resilience, firms are looking for policies that bolster capital formation, ease compliance, and expand infrastructure spending — especially in manufacturing and technology-driven sectors that promise jobs and exports.
Startups & Innovation: The startup ecosystem expects incentives around employee stock options and capital access, along with regulatory tweaks that encourage risk capital and talent retention without increasing compliance burdens.
Also See: Stock Market Updates Today
The Budget speech will be broadcast live here and on all other news channels. You can also catch all the updates about Budget 2026 on News18.com. News18 will provide detailed live blog updates on the Budget speech, and political, industry, and market reactions.
We are providing a full, detailed coverage of the union budget 2026 here, with a lot of insights, experts’ views and analyses. Stay tuned with us to get latest updates.
Also Read: Budget 2026 Live Streaming
Here are the Live Updates of Union Budget 2026:
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