Yes you can use temporary insurance to tax a car - this is one of the beauties of short term cover. Remember that a car needs an MOT in order to tax it.
You can take out a temporary car insurance policy to get your car insured on the MID (Motor Insurance Database) then tax your car (as it has to be insured to tax).
You can MOT a car without tax, but the journey must be purely to and from the MOT test centre.