Car tax
SORN, and the one journey it allows
Checked on 7 September 2026.GOV.UK, Register your vehicle as off the road (SORN) (as of 7 September 2026)
What is a SORN?
A declaration to DVLA that a vehicle is kept off the public road. It stops the legal requirement to tax and insure it, and it stops the automatic penalties that follow an untaxed vehicle. It is free and it lasts until the vehicle is taxed again.
You can declare one online, by phone on 0300 123 4321, or by post on form V890. There is no fee and no annual renewal: it stands until something ends it.
What a SORN does
- Ends the requirement to tax the vehicle, and refunds any full months left on the current licence automatically.
- Ends the requirement to keep it insured under continuous insurance enforcement.
- Stays in force until the vehicle is taxed, or until it changes keeper.
- Costs nothing, either to make or to end.
What a SORN does not do
- It is not a change of ownership, and it does not survive one. A sale ends it and the new keeper starts again.
- It is not a way of avoiding tax on a car you still use. The vehicle has to be genuinely off the public road, on a drive, in a garage or on private land.
- It does not let you park on a public road. A SORN vehicle on a road is an offence whether it moves or not.
- It does not pause anything else about the vehicle. Certificates keep running down to their expiry dates exactly as they would in daily use.
Can I drive a SORN vehicle to a test?
Yes, to or from a pre booked test appointment, and that is the entire permission. Using it on a road for any other reason risks court prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500. A vehicle that needs work should be recovered rather than driven.
The order of operations catches restorers regularly. If a car has been standing, book the test first, drive to it on the exception with insurance in place, then tax it once it has passed. Records can take up to two days to update, so a pass at four o'clock does not always let you tax the car that evening.
Common questions
- Does a SORN transfer to a new owner?
- No. A SORN ends the moment the vehicle changes keeper. The buyer has to make a fresh one in their own name, or tax the vehicle, and a gap between the two is what produces an out of tax penalty on a car that never moved.
- When does a SORN start?
- Immediately, unless you apply in the month the tax is due to expire, in which case it starts on the first of the next month. DVLA refunds any full months left on the licence automatically, so there is nothing to claim.
- Can I drive a SORN car anywhere at all?
- To or from a pre booked test appointment, and nowhere else. Moving it to a friend's driveway, taking it out to charge the battery or driving it to a garage for repairs are all outside the exception and risk prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500.
- How do I take a car off SORN?
- Tax it. The declaration ends automatically the moment a licence is issued, so there is nothing to cancel and no form to send. The vehicle then needs insurance in place and, where one is due, a current test certificate.