Car tax
When a vehicle becomes historic for tax
Enter the manufacture date, or the first registration date if the build date is not known.
Summary: UK vehicles built before 1 January 1986 can qualify for historic vehicle tax from 1 April 2026 under DVLA's age rule. The annual rate is £0, but the historic tax class must be claimed and the vehicle taxed each year; use for hire, reward, trade or business can prevent exemption.
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Which vehicles qualify for historic tax from 1 April 2026?
The rolling 40 year rule is the age test. For the tax year starting 1 April 2026 the vehicle must have been built before 1 January 1986. Where the build date is not known, a first registration before 8 January 1986 is the published DVLA fallback. Cars, vans, motorcycles and other vehicles that meet that date can qualify. The cut off then advances by one year each 1 April, so a vehicle built during 1986 can enter the class from 1 April 2027.
The tool reports the first 1 April on which the date meets that rule. It does not override exclusions based on how the vehicle is used. Hire or reward, and commercial use for a trade or business, keep a vehicle out of the historic class even when it is old enough. The Vehicle Excise and Registration Act sets the exemption in Schedule 2 paragraph 1A; GOV.UK is the page that tells you how to claim it.
| Tax class | Age test | 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| Historic vehicle | Built before 1 January 1986 for the tax year starting 1 April 2026 | £0 |
How do I apply for the historic tax class?
Apply at a Post Office that deals with vehicle tax. The website and the phone line can tax a vehicle that is already in the class, but they cannot move it there. Take the V5C in your name and the V11 reminder if you have one. Take evidence of a current MOT if the vehicle needs one, or form V112 if it is exempt from testing. Northern Ireland Post Office applications also need the published insurance certificate and MOT or test exemption certificate.
Keep the vehicle taxed in its current class while the application is processed if you want to use it on the road. A SORN is the alternative if it will stay off the public road. Once the class is granted, continue taxing it every year. The amount is nil, but a valid tax record is still required.
- Confirm the manufacture date, or the first registration date if the build date is not known, against the rolling 40 year cut off.
- Check the vehicle is not used for hire or reward, or commercially for a trade or business.
- Take the V5C in your name, the V11 if you have one, and MOT evidence or form V112, to a Post Office that deals with vehicle tax.
- Keep the current licence in force if you want to use the vehicle while DVLA processes the class change.
- Once the historic class is granted, tax it every year at the nil rate so the register still shows a current licence.
Do I still have to tax a historic vehicle?
Yes. Exemption removes the payment, not the licensing step. Tax it online at the GOV.UK vehicle tax service, by phone on 0300 123 4321, or at a participating Post Office. Direct Debit can be set up online on a paid class, with no surcharge on a single annual payment and a 5 per cent surcharge on monthly or six month Direct Debit. On a nil historic rate there is nothing extra to collect and nothing extra to refund.
If you later sell, scrap or export the vehicle, DVLA refunds any full months left on a paid licence. A historic nil licence has no paid months to refund. A cheque for a paid class goes to the name and address on the V5C. Contact DVLA if a refund cheque has not arrived after 8 weeks. The 5 per cent Direct Debit surcharge is never refunded.
| Route | What it can do | What it cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Post Office | Apply for the historic class, and tax at nil once granted | Not the place that backdates the class |
| GOV.UK vehicle tax service | Tax a vehicle already in the historic class at nil | Cannot move a vehicle into the historic class |
| Phone 0300 123 4321 | Tax a vehicle already in the historic class | Cannot set up Direct Debit, and cannot grant the class |
Checked against GOV.UK historic vehicle and vehicle tax guidance on 10 September 2026.
How much would I pay before the historic class is granted?
Until the class is granted, the vehicle pays the rate for its first registration date under the 2026/27 tables. A vehicle built in 1985 that is still in the private and light goods class pays on engine size. Cars first registered from 1 March 2001 to 31 March 2017 use the lettered CO2 bands. Cars first registered on or after 1 April 2017 pay the flat standard rate of £200 from the second licence, plus the expensive car supplement if the original list price was over £40,000. None of those later cars is historic in 2026/27.
Example
A 1999 car at 1,549 cc, still years from historic tax
- First registered
- 1999
- Engine size
- 1,549 cc
- Historic from 1 April 2026
- Built before 1 January 1986
- 1999 is after 1 January 1986, so the vehicle cannot enter the historic class in the tax year starting 1 April 2026.
- It sits in the private and light goods engine bands because it was first registered before 1 March 2001.
- 1,549 cc is not over 1549cc, so the lower band is £230 for twelve months in 2026/27.
Pay £230 until the rolling 40 year cut off reaches this vehicle. The historic class is not automatic when that year arrives; you still apply at a Post Office.
Example
A 2015 diesel at 125 g/km
- First registered
- 2015
- Fuel
- Diesel
- CO2
- 125 g/km
- 2015 is decades inside the rolling 40 year line, so historic tax does not apply.
- 1 March 2001 to 31 March 2017 puts it in the lettered CO2 bands.
- 125 g/km is band D, 121 to 130 g/km, at £170 for twelve months in 2026/27.
Tax it at £170 for twelve months. Historic class is not a route around the band.
Example
A 2018 car with a £48,000 list price
- First registered
- 2018
- Original list price
- £48,000
- Standard rate
- £200
- 2018 is on or after 1 April 2017, so the flat standard rate applies from the second licence.
- The list price is over £40,000, so the expensive car supplement of £440 is added for 5 years.
- The two published figures together are £200 plus £440. Historic tax is not available.
From the second licence the annual bill is the standard rate plus the supplement, £640, until the five year period ends. Age in 2018 does not meet the 1986 cut off.
Does historic tax exemption mean MOT exemption?
No. MOT exemption is a separate 40 year test plus a substantial change test. A vehicle can pass one and fail the other. Declare MOT exemption when you tax the vehicle, and use form V112 where GOV.UK asks for it. A Post Office application for historic tax may still ask for MOT evidence if the vehicle is not exempt from testing. Roadworthiness remains a duty every day the vehicle is used.
What happens if I SORN a historic vehicle?
A SORN is available in the usual way, online, by phone on 0300 123 4321, or by post on form V890. It does not grant the historic class, and it does not replace the yearly tax step while you want to use the vehicle. If a paid licence is still running, DVLA refunds any full months left when the SORN is accepted. A nil historic licence has no paid months to refund.
The vehicle has to be kept off the public road. The only legal movement is to or from a pre booked test. Using a SORN vehicle on a road for any other reason risks court prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500 or five times the tax, whichever is greater. A SORN ends if you tax the vehicle, sell it, scrap it or export it.
What goes wrong with historic vehicle tax?
- Assuming the class is granted on the vehicle's 40th birthday. It is not. You apply at a Post Office, and the cut off moves each 1 April, not on the anniversary.
- Using a first registration date when the build date is known and later. DVLA uses manufacture where it is known, and the 8 January fallback only where it is not.
- Leaving the vehicle without a licence because the rate is nil. A missing licence is an untaxed vehicle, and the late licensing penalty is £80, or £40 within 33 days.
- Using it for paid weddings or as a working van and expecting the historic class to hold. Hire, reward and commercial use are excluded.
- Treating historic tax as MOT exemption. Check the testing rules separately, including substantial change.
- Trying to apply online. The website can tax a vehicle already in the class; it cannot put it there.
Common myths about historic vehicle tax
- Every 40 year old vehicle is automatically tax free. The class has to be claimed, and some uses are excluded.
- Historic tax and MOT exemption are the same decision. They are two tests, applied on two GOV.UK pages.
- A SORN is a substitute for the historic class. It only declares the vehicle off the road.
- You can skip the yearly tax step once the class is granted. You still complete it at the nil rate.
- A 1999 car is historic in 2026. It is not. The 1 April 2026 cut off is a build date before 1 January 1986.
- Refunds of a nil licence arrive as a cheque. There is nothing to refund on a nil rate. Paid months from the previous class follow the usual full month rule.
Common questions
- Which vehicles are exempt from tax from 1 April 2026?
- A vehicle built before 1 January 1986 can apply for the historic tax class from 1 April 2026. If its build date is unknown, DVLA accepts a first registration before 8 January 1986 as the fallback. Cars, vans, motorcycles and other vehicles that meet the age test can qualify, but hire or reward and commercial use for a trade or business are excluded. The cut off then advances by one year each 1 April, so a vehicle built during 1986 can enter the class from 1 April 2027. Age alone does not put it on the register: you still have to apply.
- Is historic vehicle tax exemption automatic?
- No. You must apply to put the vehicle into the historic tax class, and you must do that at a Post Office that deals with vehicle tax. Take the V5C in your name and the V11 reminder if you have one, plus evidence of a current MOT if the vehicle needs one, or form V112 if it is exempt from testing. You must then tax it every year even though the amount due is £0. An exempt vehicle with no licence at all is treated as untaxed, and DVLA can issue a late licensing penalty from the register.
- Can a working historic vehicle be tax exempt?
- Not if it is used for hire or reward, or used commercially for a trade or business. The age test alone does not override those exclusions. A wedding car, a paid tour vehicle or a van still earning its keep stays in its ordinary tax class and pays the rate that class publishes. Private use of a vehicle that meets the age test is the situation the historic class is written for. If the use later changes, the class can stop applying, so do not assume a granted exemption lasts through a change of work.
- Does historic tax exemption also mean MOT exemption?
- Not automatically. MOT exemption uses its own age test and also asks whether the vehicle has been substantially changed. The two decisions need to be checked separately. A vehicle can be in the historic tax class and still need an MOT, or be MOT exempt and still be waiting to apply for historic tax. Declare MOT exemption when you tax the vehicle, using form V112 where GOV.UK asks for it. Roadworthiness remains a legal duty every day the vehicle is used, whether a test is due or not.
- Do I still have to tax a historic vehicle every year?
- Yes. The historic rate is nil, but a valid tax record is still required. Complete the tax process online, by phone on 0300 123 4321, or at a Post Office once the class has been granted. Direct Debit is of little use on a nil rate, and there is nothing to refund if you later make a SORN, because there were no full months of paid tax. If you stop taxing it and do not make a SORN, DVLA can issue the £80 late licensing penalty, reduced to £40 within 33 days, from the register.
- How do I apply if the vehicle is currently SORN?
- A SORN does not put the vehicle into the historic class. You still apply at a Post Office. If you want to use the vehicle on the road while the application is processed, keep it taxed in its current class. If it will stay off the public road, the SORN can remain until you are ready to tax it at the nil rate. Taking it off SORN means taxing it. Until a licence is issued, the only legal movement on a SORN vehicle is to or from a pre booked test.
- What if I use a historic vehicle on the road without taxing it?
- Nil rate is not permission to skip the licence. An historic class vehicle with no tax record is untaxed. DVLA's late licensing penalty is £80, or £40 within 33 days, issued from the register. If the vehicle is used or kept on a public road, an out of court settlement of £30 plus one and a half times the outstanding tax can follow, or a court penalty of £1,000 or five times the tax. If a SORN is in force and you use it on a road other than for a booked test, the court maximum is £2,500 or five times the tax.
- Can I apply for historic tax online?
- No. GOV.UK directs you to a Post Office that deals with vehicle tax. The website and the 0300 123 4321 phone line can tax a vehicle that is already in the historic class at the nil rate, but they cannot move it into that class. Take the V5C in your name. If the address on the log book is wrong, change that first, because later refunds and reminders follow the record. Keep the vehicle taxed in its current class if you want to use it while the application is processed.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Historic vehicle tax exemption (as of 7 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Apply for a vehicle tax exemption (as of 7 September 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk, Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, Schedule 2, paragraph 1A (as of 7 September 2026)
- 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, When you need to make a SORN (as of 10 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Pay your vehicle tax by Direct Debit (as of 10 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Vehicles exempt from vehicle tax (as of 10 September 2026)
- DVLA, DVLA enforcement of vehicle tax, registration and insurance offences (as of 15 July 2026)
- 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)
- 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)
Related pages
- Car taxCurrent rates before a vehicle qualifies.
- MOT exemptionThe separate historic vehicle test.
- Pre 2001 taxThe two engine bands used by older vehicles.
- MOT costsTest fee limits and retest rules.
- How to tax a carDocuments and routes, including the nil rate step.
- SORNKeep it off the road instead of licensing it.