Vehicle Excise Duty — road tax, car tax, the tax disc that no longer exists — is one of the few motoring bills you cannot negotiate. What you can do is understand it before you buy a car, because the difference between two similar vehicles can be thousands of pounds over five years.
Which system applies to you depends entirely on when your car was first registered:
| First registered | How tax is worked out |
|---|---|
| On or after 1 April 2017 | A one-off first-year rate based on CO₂, then a flat standard rate for every year after — plus a supplement if the list price was high |
| 1 March 2001 to 31 March 2017 | Annual rate based on CO₂ bands A to M. Low-emission cars in the older bands can still be very cheap to tax |
| Before 1 March 2001 | Based on engine size — one rate under 1,549cc, a higher one above |
| Built more than 40 years ago | Historic vehicle class: no tax to pay, but you still have to tax it (at £0) each year |
The standard rate: £200 a year
For any car registered on or after 1 April 2017, from the second year onwards you pay a flat £200 a year, regardless of what it emits. Pay by monthly Direct Debit instead and the total rises to £210 — a £10 convenience charge that is easy to avoid.
That flat rate is why a small efficient hatchback and a large petrol estate can pay exactly the same. Under this system CO₂ only matters once, in year one.
First-year rates: where CO₂ still bites
The first-year rate is usually rolled into the on-the-road price of a new car, which is why buyers rarely notice it. It is worth noticing, because at the top end it is enormous.
First-year tax by CO₂ band
Grams of CO₂ per km, cars registered on or after 1 April 2017
Show the data
| 0 | £10 |
| 1–50 | £115 |
| 51–75 | £135 |
| 76–90 | £280 |
| 91–100 | £365 |
| 101–110 | £405 |
| 111–130 | £455 |
| 131–150 | £560 |
| 151–170 | £1,410 |
| 171–190 | £2,270 |
| 191–225 | £3,420 |
| 226–255 | £4,850 |
| 255+ | £5,690 |
| CO₂ emissions | First-year rate |
|---|---|
| 0 g/km (electric) | £10 |
| 1–50 g/km | £115 |
| 51–75 g/km | £135 |
| 76–90 g/km | £280 |
| 91–100 g/km | £365 |
| 101–110 g/km | £405 |
| 111–130 g/km | £455 |
| 131–150 g/km | £560 |
| 151–170 g/km | £1,410 |
| 171–190 g/km | £2,270 |
| 191–225 g/km | £3,420 |
| 226–255 g/km | £4,850 |
| Over 255 g/km | £5,690 |
Note the cliff edge between 150 and 151 g/km: one gram of CO₂ more than doubles the bill. If you are choosing between engine or wheel options on a new car, that single number is worth checking before you tick the box — larger alloys can push a car over a band.
If a car’s list price was over £40,000 — £50,000 for electric cars — you pay an extra £440 a year for five years, starting from the second time the vehicle is taxed. That is £2,200 in total, and it follows the car, not the first owner. It is based on the original list price including options, not what you paid, so a three-year-old car bought for £24,000 can still carry the supplement if it was £41,000 new. Always check before buying used.
What electric cars pay
Electric cars were exempt from vehicle tax for years. That ended: zero-emission cars now pay £10 in the first year and then the same £200 standard rate as everything else. The expensive-car supplement applies to electric cars above a £50,000 list price — a threshold that a lot of ordinary family EVs sit uncomfortably close to.
Pay-per-mile from April 2028
A second charge for electric and plug-in hybrid drivers is on the way. Under the announced electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) scheme, from 1 April 2028 battery-electric cars would pay around 3p per mile and plug-in hybrids around 1.5p per mile — roughly half of what a comparable petrol driver contributes in fuel duty.
The important details, as they currently stand:
- It runs alongside ordinary VED, not instead of it.
- You estimate your annual mileage when you tax the car and pay up front; actual mileage is reconciled later using MOT readings.
- Vans, buses and heavy goods vehicles are outside the scheme at launch.
- At 10,000 miles a year, a battery-electric car would pay roughly £300 a year, about £25 a month, on top of the £200 standard rate.
It does not wipe out the running-cost advantage — home charging is still far cheaper per mile than petrol, especially on an off-peak tariff. It does narrow the gap, and it makes the sums worth doing with your own mileage rather than a headline. The petrol vs electric calculator lets you add 3p a mile and see what survives.
Practical things that save money or trouble
- Pay annually. Monthly Direct Debit costs £10 more a year for no benefit beyond cash flow.
- Tax does not transfer with the car. When you sell, your tax is cancelled and refunded for full remaining months; the buyer must tax it before driving away. When you buy, tax it online before you move the car.
- SORN if it is off the road. A car kept off the public road on a drive or in a garage can be declared SORN, which stops the tax and refunds full months. It must not touch a public road, not even to be parked.
- Check before you buy used. The registration date, CO₂ figure and original list price decide your bill for years. All three are worth confirming rather than assuming.
- Tax is not the same as clean-air compliance. A fully taxed, freshly tested older diesel can still owe £12.50 a day to enter London. Which zones charge cars.
Common questions
Is car tax cheaper for older cars?
Often, yes. Cars registered between 2001 and 2017 are taxed on CO₂ bands, and genuinely low-emission cars from that era can cost far less than the £200 flat rate. Cars over 40 years old fall into the historic class and pay nothing.
Does the £440 supplement apply to a car I bought second-hand?
Yes, if the original list price was above the threshold. The supplement runs for five years from the second time the car was taxed, whoever owns it during that period.
Will pay-per-mile track where I drive?
As announced, no. It works from an up-front mileage estimate reconciled against MOT odometer readings, rather than real-time tracking of journeys.
What happens if I forget to tax the car?
Enforcement is automatic and camera-based. An untaxed car on a public road attracts a penalty and can be clamped or removed, and being insured makes no difference. Set a reminder, or use the annual Direct Debit which renews itself.
Sources: standard rate, supplement and thresholds — gov.uk vehicle tax rate tables; first-year CO₂ rates — RAC; eVED pay-per-mile detail — PetrolPrices. Rates change every April — always confirm at gov.uk before budgeting. Last reviewed September 2026.