Car tax bands explained

A vehicle kept off-road must also be taxed or have a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).

You can check how much road tax will be due on new and older models of car on one of the links below.

You don’t have to pay car tax on ‘historic vehicles’ meaning a vehicle that’s 40 or more years old.

The car’s first vehicle licence rates will be based on the carbon dioxide emissions of the vehicle.

After the car’s first year, for cars with a list price under £40,000 the road tax costs are:

For cars above £40,000, you’ll pay an additional £390 for the next five years from the second time the vehicle is taxed. You do not have to pay this as of April 2020 if you have a zero emission vehicle. After six years from the date of the first registration, you’ll pay the standard annual rate depending on what fuel your vehicle uses.

So, for example, a petrol car with a list price of over £40,000 would pay £570 (£180+£390) for the next five years.

The list price is the published price before any discounts at the first registration. Check the list price with your dealer so you know how much vehicle tax you’ll have to pay.

Vehicle excise duty costs are slightly different if you pay monthly, every six months, or via Direct Debit. You can read about the different ways to pay at GOV.UK(Opens in a new window)

The rate of tax you pay depends on the car’s official CO2 emissions and the type of fuel it uses.

The rates are split into bands based on how many grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) a car emits per kilometre driven:

You can break these payments up to help manage the costs but you have to pay a little extra to do this. 

The tax rate is based on engine size only. There is one rate for engines up to 1549cc and one for over 1549cc.

You can spread the cost of car tax by paying monthly, six monthly or via annual Direct Debit.  

You can set up a Direct Debit when you tax your vehicle (Opens in a new window) online or at a Post Office. 

You don’t need to be the vehicle’s registered keeper to set up a Direct Debit. 

Emails and letters about Direct Debit payments are sent to the account holder. 

The amount you pay (Opens in a new window) depends on how often you want to make a payment. There’s a 5% surcharge if you pay:

• monthly

• every 6 months.

There’s no surcharge if you pay yearly. 

Lower emissions mean Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) on motorcycles, mopeds and motor-tricycles is normally lower than for petrol and diesel-powered vehicles.

Vehicle excise duty costs are slightly different if you pay monthly, every six months, or via Direct Debit. You can read about the different ways to pay at GOV.UK(Opens in a new window)

DVLA does not need to spot an untaxed vehicle on the road to take action. Any vehicle seen on the road and isn’t taxed, or is declared SORN and isn’t kept off road, risks being clamped or impounded by one of DVLA’s enforcement teams. 

DVLA will send you a reminder when your vehicle tax is due. This will include all the information you need to tax online. 

If you don't tax on time this is followed up by a late licensing penalty letter. This is a fee of £80 initially, but is reduced to £40 if paid within 28 days. 

If the penalty isn’t paid, your information is sent to a debt collector to recover the payment. You may also be at risk of prosecution through court if you use an untaxed vehicle.

The DVLA has a number of other actions to stop vehicle tax evasion. These range from reminder letters, penalties and court prosecutions through to the use of ANPR cameras, wheel clamping and the removal of unlicensed vehicles.

Tax on vehicles is not transferred when they’re sold.

For example, when you buy a car that someone else has previously taxed, it doesn’t matter if the tax wasn’t due to run out until two months after you bought it. You’ll still need to tax the vehicle before you can drive it.

It also means that if you’re selling a vehicle, you can claim a refund for any full months that are left. A refund will be automatically issued when you return the selling or transferring a vehicle section of the V5C to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

The same applies for a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) on a vehicle. If you buy a vehicle that is SORN, you’ll need to tell the DVLA that it’s being kept off road and get a new SORN.

Now when you buy a vehicle, the car tax will no longer be transferred with the vehicle. So you must tax it before you can use it.

Depending on where you drive and what roads you use, you might have to pay additional tolls or charges.

There are tolls to use including, among others, the Dartford Crossing in London and a section of the M6 north of Birmingham.

There are also charges for driving in the centre of London, known as the London Congestion Charge and Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) charge, and in Durham, known as the Durham Road User Charge

From 23 October 2017, vehicles failing to meet minimum emissions standards will pay a surcharge, known as the Toxicity Charge or ‘T-Charge’.