Car tax UK - VED rates and the expensive car supplement

The United Kingdom has no registration tax on a car. The tax that matters is Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), usually called vehicle tax or road tax, which DVLA collects for the whole UK, Northern Ireland included. Which rates a car pays depends on when it was first registered, in the UK or anywhere else. Registering a car for the first time also costs a £55 fee.

The rates below are those for licences taken out from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.

Cars first registered from 1 April 2017

These cars pay two rates in turn:

The first-year rate: paid once, when the car is first registered, and set by its CO₂ emissions
The standard rate: £200 a year from the second time the car is taxed, the same for petrol, diesel, electric and alternative fuel

A new car is usually registered by the dealer, which pays the first-year rate when it registers the car. A car bought already on UK plates pays the standard rate only.

The first-year rate

The rate depends on the CO₂ figure and the fuel. Petrol, alternative fuel and zero-emission cars pay the first figure. A diesel pays the same, provided it meets the RDE2 standard (Euro 6d). Any other diesel pays the figure in brackets:

0 g/km — £10 (£10)
1–50 g — £115 (£135) · 51–75 g — £135 (£280)
76–90 g — £280 (£365) · 91–100 g — £365 (£405)
101–110 g — £405 (£455) · 111–130 g — £455 (£560)
131–150 g — £560 (£1,410) · 151–170 g — £1,410 (£2,270)
171–190 g — £2,270 (£3,420) · 191–225 g — £3,420 (£4,850)
226–255 g — £4,850 (£5,690) · above 255 g — £5,690 (£5,690)

The figure is the WLTP value for a car first registered from 1 April 2020, and the NEDC value before that. A diesel certified only to Euro 6d-TEMP does not count as RDE2, and pays the higher figure. The £10 discount hybrids and alternative fuel cars used to get ended on 1 April 2025.

The expensive car supplement

A car whose list price was over £40,000 pays a supplement of £440 a year on top of the standard rate, so £640 a year in total. For a zero-emission car the threshold is £50,000.

The supplement applies from the second time the car is taxed, for five years, so in years 2 to 6. From year 7 the car pays the standard rate again.

The list price is the published price of the car before it was first registered, before any discount. It includes the options and non-standard accessories fitted when the car was first registered. What you paid for the car, new or used, makes no difference.

Electric cars

An electric car's tax depends on when it was first registered:

From 1 April 2025: £10 for the first year, then £200 a year, plus the supplement in years 2 to 6 when its list price was over £50,000
1 April 2017 to 31 March 2025: £200 a year, and never the supplement
1 March 2001 to 31 March 2017: £20 a year

The £50,000 threshold for zero-emission cars applies to licences that start from 1 April 2026. It also covers electric cars registered between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.

The government has announced Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED), a charge per mile from April 2028: 3p a mile for an electric car and 1.5p for a plug-in hybrid. It is not yet in force.

Cars first registered from March 2001 to March 2017

These cars are taxed by CO₂ band, and the rate is the same every year. The CO₂ figure is the one on the V5C:

A, up to 100 g — £20 · B, 101–110 g — £20 · C, 111–120 g — £35
D, 121–130 g — £170 · E, 131–140 g — £200 · F, 141–150 g — £225
G, 151–165 g — £275 · H, 166–175 g — £325 · I, 176–185 g — £360
J, 186–200 g — £410 · K, 201–225 g — £445
L, 226–255 g — £760 · M, above 255 g — £790

A car above 225 g/km that was registered before 23 March 2006 stays in band K, at £445. There is no first-year rate and no expensive car supplement in this scheme.

Cars first registered before March 2001

Older cars are taxed on engine size:

Up to 1,549 cc — £230 a year
Above 1,549 cc — £375 a year

An imported car whose approval certificate gives no CO₂ figure is taxed at these same engine-size rates.

Historic vehicles: from 1 April 2026, a car built before 1 January 1986 pays no vehicle tax. When the build date is unknown, the test is first registration before 8 January 1986. The keeper still has to apply for the historic tax class.

Paying monthly or for six months

You can pay for 12 months or 6 months, in one payment or by Direct Debit, and also in 12 monthly Direct Debits. Spreading the cost adds 5% to 10% over a year:

Standard rate: 12 months £200 · 12 monthly payments £210 in total · 6 months £110, or £105 by Direct Debit
With the supplement: 12 months £640 · 12 monthly payments £672 · 6 months £352, or £336 by Direct Debit

Bands A to C have no six-month option.

Tax does not pass to the buyer

Vehicle tax stays with the keeper, not the car. When you buy a car, you have to tax it before you drive it, even if the seller had taxed it. The seller gets a refund for any full months left.

Importing a car

A car imported into Great Britain pays customs duty and VAT before DVLA will register it. Tell HMRC through the NOVA service within 14 days of the car arriving.

Customs value: the price paid plus transport, insurance, loading and handling to the UK border
Customs duty on a used car: 10% of the customs value. A car whose origin is the EU, Japan, Türkiye, Switzerland, Canada, Australia or another partner country can pay 0%. Origin is where the car was made, not where it was bought: a Japanese car bought in Germany is not of EU origin
VAT: 20% of the customs value plus the duty
Into Northern Ireland from the EU: no import declaration and no customs duty. VAT is usually charged only on a new car, one with under 6,000 km or in use for no more than 6 months

On a car bought for £20,000 with £1,500 of transport and insurance, the customs value is £21,500. With 0% duty the VAT is £4,300. With 10% duty, duty is £2,150 and VAT £4,730, a total of £6,880.

Someone moving to the UK can usually bring their own car without paying either, under transfer of residence relief.

The vehicle tax scheme follows the date of first registration anywhere. A car first registered abroad from 1 April 2017 is on the post-2017 rates and, when its list price was over £40,000, pays the supplement until it is six years from that date. DVLA's guidance gives a used import the standard rate rather than the first-year rate, but DVLA sets the tax class when it registers the car.

VAT on a used car from a dealer

A VAT-registered dealer can sell a used car under the margin scheme when it bought the car from a private seller, a business not registered for VAT, or another dealer selling under the scheme. The dealer then pays VAT only on its margin, one sixth of the difference between what it paid and what it charges, and the invoice shows no VAT. It reads "margin scheme - second hand goods" instead. The scheme cannot be used for a new car, an imported car or a car bought on an invoice showing VAT, so those carry VAT at 20% on the whole price.

Worked examples

These are our own calculations from the published rates:

Petrol, 2026, 120 g/km: first year £455, then £200 a year
Diesel, not RDE2, 140 g/km: first year £1,410. The same car meeting RDE2 pays £560
Petrol, list price £45,000: first year by CO₂, then £640 a year in years 2 to 6, and £200 from year 7
Electric, 2026, list price £60,000: first year £10, then £640 in years 2 to 6
Electric, 2024, list price £80,000: £200 a year, no supplement
2010 car at 158 g/km: band G, £275 a year
2004 car at 240 g/km: band K, £445, because it was registered before 23 March 2006
1999 car, 1,598 cc: £375 a year

What you will need

The V5C, which shows the date of first registration and the CO₂ figure
The list price when new, for a car registered from April 2017 that may be over £40,000
For an import, the certificate of conformity, the purchase invoice and the transport costs

Before you buy

Check when the car was first registered, and its list price when new. A car registered from April 2017 with a list price over £40,000, or £50,000 for an electric car, costs £640 a year until its sixth year. That can matter more than the CO₂ figure. On an older car, the band on the V5C gives you the yearly cost.

Vehicle tax in United Kingdom