Car tax
Car tax changes from April 2025
The UK standard car tax rate is £200 for 2026/27, effective from 1 April 2026, under the rates published by DVLA. The latest changes also raised the zero emission expensive car supplement threshold, following the end of the electric car exemption and changes to first year rates in April 2025.
£200
£195
£50,000
Checked on 1 April 2026.DVLA, V149: rates of vehicle tax from 1 April 2026 (as of 1 April 2026)
Car tax changes from 1 April 2026
| What changed | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Standard rate, cars registered from April 2017 | £195 | £200 |
| Expensive car supplement, per year | £425 | £440 |
| Supplement threshold, zero emission cars | £40,000 | £50,000 |
| Supplement threshold, every other fuel | £40,000 | £40,000 |
The zero emission threshold change is the unusual one, because it applies retrospectively. Most zero emission cars registered from 1 April 2025 are therefore not required to pay the supplement at all, and a car that took a second licence before 1 April 2026 pays one year of it and no more.
Car tax changes from 1 April 2025
| What changed | Detail |
|---|---|
| Electric cars became liable | Zero emission cars paid no vehicle tax at all until 31 March 2025. From 1 April a newly registered one pays a £10 first year rate and then the standard rate. |
| First year rates in the 2025/26 tables | In 2025/26, a 131 to 150 g/km petrol car pays £540, the top band pays £5,490, 1 to 50 g/km pays £110, 51 to 75 g/km pays £130, and 0 g/km pays £10. |
| Band A stopped being free | A car registered between March 2001 and March 2017 emitting 100 g/km or less moved from nothing to £20, the same as band B. |
| The alternative fuel discount was repealed | The £10 discount for hybrid, bioethanol and LPG cars ended for licences taken out on or after 1 April 2025. |
How does a rate change reach my car?
At your next licence, not on the day the rate changes. A twelve month licence bought in February is priced at February's rate and runs to the following January untouched. That is why two identical cars on the same street can be paying different figures.
DVLA, V149: rates of vehicle tax from 1 April 2026 (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Budget 2025 overview of tax legislation and rates, Annex A: rates and allowances (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Vehicle tax rate tables (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Increase in the Vehicle Excise Duty Expensive Car Supplement threshold for zero emission cars (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Vehicle tax for electric, zero and low emission vehicles (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Pay your vehicle tax by Direct Debit (as of 1 April 2026); legislation.gov.uk, Finance Act 2025 section 66: rates of vehicle excise duty, omitting the reduced rate for alternative fuel vehicles (as of 1 April 2025); GOV.UK, Autumn Budget 2024 overview of tax legislation and rates, Annex A: rates and allowances (as of 1 April 2025); GOV.UK, Vehicle Excise Duty rates for cars, vans and motorcycles from 1 April 2025 (as of 1 April 2025); GOV.UK, Budget 2025 overview of tax legislation and rates, Annex A: rates and allowances (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Vehicle tax for electric, zero and low emission vehicles (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Pay your vehicle tax by Direct Debit (as of 1 April 2026); legislation.gov.uk, Finance Act 2025 section 66: rates of vehicle excise duty, omitting the reduced rate for alternative fuel vehicles (as of 1 April 2025)
Who is affected by which change?
First registration date still decides the system. A rate change moves the figure inside that system. It does not move a 1999 car into the standard rate, and it does not move a 2015 car out of the lettered bands. The April 2025 electric change is the exception in one sense: it ended an exemption, so cars that had been paying nothing started paying the rate their registration date already pointed to.
Example
Three cars, three systems, after the 2026/27 rates
- 1999 car
- 1,549 cc
- 2015 diesel
- 125 g/km
- 2018 petrol
- List price £48,000
- Tax year
- 2026/27
- The 1999 car is not over 1549cc, so it pays £230 in the private and light goods class.
- The 2015 diesel at 125 g/km is band D, at £170 every year.
- The 2018 petrol car pays the standard rate of £200 plus the expensive car supplement of £440 in years two to six, because £48,000 is over £40,000.
- A 2018 electric car at the same list price pays £200 and no supplement, because it was registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025.
None of those four cars changed system. Only the figure inside the system moved, except for electric cars that lost the exemption on 1 April 2025.
How do first year rates compare in 2025/26 and 2026/27?
Both years are published in the rate tables. The 0 g/km first year rate stayed £10. Other bands moved. The petrol and RDE2 diesel column is the one below. A diesel first registered after 1 April 2018 that is not certified to RDE2 still pays the band above, first licence only.
| CO2 emissions | 2025/26 | 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|
| 0 g/km | £10 | £10 |
| 1 to 50 g/km | £110 | £115 |
| 131 to 150 g/km | £540 | £560 |
| 256 g/km and above | £5,490 | £5,690 |
How do I tax the car at the new rate?
Wait until the current licence ends, unless you are selling the car or making a SORN. Then use the GOV.UK vehicle tax service with a V11 reminder, the 11 digit V5C reference, or the 12 digit new keeper slip. Phone 0300 123 4321 if you would rather not use the website. Direct Debit is not available by phone. A participating Post Office can take a V5C, a new keeper slip, or a V62 from the current keeper. Northern Ireland Post Office applications also need the published insurance and test evidence.
- Check the first registration date on the V5C so you know which system the car is in.
- Do nothing until the current licence expires, unless you are selling or declaring a SORN.
- Tax online, by phone on 0300 123 4321, or at a participating Post Office, at the rate then in force.
- Twelve months up front is the cheapest way. On the standard rate the calculated six month licence is £110.00 and calculated monthly Direct Debit is £17.50.
- If the car will stay off a public road, make a SORN instead of taking out the new rate.
What did not change in April 2025 or April 2026?
The three systems are the same. A car first registered before 1 March 2001 is still taxed on engine size. A car first registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 is still in bands A to M, including the band K rule for cars over 225 g/km registered before 23 March 2006. A car first registered from 1 April 2017 still pays a first year rate then the standard rate. Band A is no longer free, but it is still band A.
How you pay did not change either. Twelve months up front remains the cheapest route. Monthly or six monthly Direct Debit still adds a 5 per cent surcharge. A single annual Direct Debit payment still carries none. A six month licence is still calculated at 55 per cent of the annual rate. Phone 0300 123 4321 still cannot take Direct Debit. Northern Ireland Post Office applications still need the published insurance and test evidence.
Do refunds, exemptions and company cars change?
Refund rules did not change with the rates. You still get full months only, with no refund of the Direct Debit surcharge, the six month extra, or a card fee. Contact DVLA if the cheque has not arrived after 8 weeks. A disabled tax class vehicle still has to complete the tax process even when the amount due is nil. Company cars still pay vehicle excise duty: benefit in kind is separate.
Electric cars, vans, motorcycles and tricycles pay from 1 April 2025. Heavy goods vehicles over 3,500kg that are electric remain exempt. If there is no tax and no SORN after a change, DVLA can issue a late licensing penalty of £80, reduced to £40 if paid within 33 days, then an out of court settlement or a court penalty for use on a road.
- Refunds: full months, no surcharge refund, chase after 8 weeks.
- SORN: free, off the public road, one journey to a pre booked test.
- Disabled exemption: still tax at nil.
- Company cars: still pay VED. Benefit in kind is a different bill.
Common questions
- When do car tax rates change?
- On 1 April each year, at the start of the tax year. The rates are announced at the Budget before it, so the figures are usually known several months ahead of the date they take effect. A licence already bought is not repriced on 1 April. The new rate applies when that licence is renewed, which is why two identical cars on the same street can pay different figures for a few months after a change.
- Does a rate change affect a licence I have already bought?
- No. A licence is priced at the rate in force when it was taken out and runs for its full term. The new rate applies to your next licence, which is why the change reaches different people in different months. If you sell the car or make a SORN, the refund is calculated on the licence you actually paid for, in full months, with no refund of the Direct Debit surcharge or the extra on a six month licence. Chase a missing cheque after 8 weeks.
- Which change reached every electric car already on the road?
- Electric cars becoming liable on 1 April 2025. Every zero emission car that had been exempt moved onto the rate for its own registration period from that date. Cars registered from 1 April 2017 pay the standard rate. Cars registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 pay band B. Electric cars, vans, motorcycles and tricycles pay; heavy goods vehicles over 3,500kg that are electric remain exempt. New electric cars also started paying a first year rate of £10.
- Did band A stop being free for older cars as well?
- Yes, on 1 April 2025. A car first registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 emitting 100 g/km or less now pays £20 a year, the same as band B. The change applies at the next licence, not on the day the rate moved. A 2015 diesel at 125 g/km was never in band A: it sits in band D at £170 and was already paying.
- How do I tax the car after a rate change?
- Use the GOV.UK vehicle tax service with a V11 reminder, the 11 digit reference on a V5C in your name, or the 12 digit reference on a green new keeper slip. You can also tax by phone on 0300 123 4321, though Direct Debit is not available on that line, or at a participating Post Office. Northern Ireland Post Office applications also need the published insurance and test evidence. A disabled tax class vehicle still has to complete the tax process even when the amount due is nil.
- Is paying monthly more expensive after the rise?
- Yes, in the same way as before. Monthly or six monthly Direct Debit adds a 5 per cent surcharge to whatever annual rate now applies. A single annual Direct Debit payment carries no surcharge. A six month licence is calculated at 55 per cent of the annual rate, so two of them across a year cost 10 per cent more than one twelve month licence. On the current standard rate that calculated six month figure is £110.00.
- Does a company car pay the new rates too?
- Yes. Vehicle excise duty is charged on the vehicle at the rate in force when the next licence is taken out. The registered keeper, usually the employer or the leasing company, pays it. Benefit in kind is a separate income tax charge on the employee and does not replace vehicle tax. A rate change does not create a mid year vehicle tax bill on a licence that is already running.
- What if I leave the car untaxed after a change?
- If there is no tax and no SORN, DVLA can issue a late licensing penalty of £80, reduced to £40 if paid within 33 days. Use or keeping on a public road can then lead to an out of court settlement of £30 plus 1.5 times the outstanding tax, or a court penalty of £1,000 or five times the tax, whichever is greater. Make a SORN if the car will stay off the road instead of taking out the new rate.
Sources
- DVLA, V149: rates of vehicle tax from 1 April 2026 (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Budget 2025 overview of tax legislation and rates, Annex A: rates and allowances (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Vehicle tax rate tables (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Increase in the Vehicle Excise Duty Expensive Car Supplement threshold for zero emission cars (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Vehicle tax for electric, zero and low emission vehicles (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Pay your vehicle tax by Direct Debit (as of 1 April 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk, Finance Act 2025 section 66: rates of vehicle excise duty, omitting the reduced rate for alternative fuel vehicles (as of 1 April 2025)
- GOV.UK, Autumn Budget 2024 overview of tax legislation and rates, Annex A: rates and allowances (as of 1 April 2025)
- GOV.UK, Vehicle Excise Duty rates for cars, vans and motorcycles from 1 April 2025 (as of 1 April 2025)
- GOV.UK, Tax your vehicle (as of 10 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Cancel your vehicle tax and get a refund (as of 10 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Register your vehicle as off the road (SORN) (as of 10 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Vehicles exempt from vehicle tax (as of 10 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Vehicle tax for electric and low emissions vehicles (as of 1 April 2026)
- DVLA, DVLA enforcement of vehicle tax, registration and insurance offences (as of 15 July 2026)