Citroen C3 Road Tax: Rates, e-C3 VED, and Payment Options

Road tax on a Citroen C3 typically runs between £20 and £200 a year. Which figure applies depends on when the car was first registered and, for older models, how much CO2 it emits. Cars registered between March 2001 and March 2017 sit on a 13-band CO2 scale. Cars registered from April 2017 onward pay a variable rate in the first year, then a flat £200 every year after. The fully electric e-C3 lost its exemption in April 2025 and now pays £200 as well.

C3 Models Registered Between March 2001 and March 2017

Cars from this window stay locked into a graduated CO2 scale for life, regardless of who owns them. The annual rates from April 2026 run from Band A to Band M:

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

The C3 is a small car with modest engines, so most fall well down this table. Low-emission diesels like the 1.4 HDi often sit in Band A or B at £20 a year. Petrol versions land in bands C through E, roughly £35 to £200. No standard C3 reaches Band M.¹ You can find your car’s exact CO2 figure on the V5C logbook under the technical specifications.

C3 Models Registered From April 2017

From April 2017, the tax system splits into two parts. You pay a variable first-year rate when the car is first registered, based on CO2. From year two onward, every petrol, diesel, and alternative fuel C3 moves to the same flat standard rate of £200.²

Older guidance sometimes mentions a £10 discount for alternative fuel vehicles such as hybrids. That discount is gone. Petrol, diesel, alternative fuel, and electric cars now all sit at £200.³

If you’re buying a used C3 that’s past its first registration year, the first-year rate doesn’t concern you. You pay £200.

First-Year Rates for a Newly Registered C3

The first-year figure only matters to the person registering a brand-new car. Diesel C3 variants that don’t meet the RDE2 standard for nitrogen oxide emissions pay more than petrol at the same CO2 level. The relevant bands for a C3 are:²

0 g/km: £10 (all fuel types)
1–50 g/km: £115 petrol / £135 non-RDE2 diesel
51–75 g/km: £135 petrol / £280 non-RDE2 diesel
76–90 g/km: £280 petrol / £365 non-RDE2 diesel
91–100 g/km: £365 petrol / £405 non-RDE2 diesel
101–110 g/km: £405 petrol / £455 non-RDE2 diesel
111–130 g/km: £455 petrol / £560 non-RDE2 diesel

Most new petrol C3 models emit between 90 and 130 g/km, so the first-year bill lands somewhere between £365 and £455. Diesels that meet the RDE2 standard pay the petrol rate. From year two the car drops to the £200 flat rate whatever it emits.

Tax on the Electric Citroen e-C3

The e-C3 was originally exempt. That ended on 1 April 2025. Electric and zero-emission cars registered on or after that date pay £10 for the first year and then £200 at the standard rate. E-C3 models registered between April 2017 and March 2025 skipped the first-year charge but now also owe the £200 every year.⁴

There is an expensive car supplement of £440 a year for five years, starting from year two, but it only applies above a list price of £40,000 for petrol and diesel or £50,000 for electric.² The e-C3 is priced as a budget electric car and sits well below either threshold, so this supplement is not something a C3 buyer needs to plan for.

How to Pay

You can tax your C3 online through the GOV.UK vehicle tax service or in person at a Post Office that handles vehicle licensing. You need one of three documents:

The V11 reminder the DVLA posts before your tax is due. It carries a 16-digit reference number.
Your V5C logbook, which has an 11-digit reference number and also shows your CO2 figure.
The new keeper slip from the seller’s V5C if you’ve just bought the car. It carries a 12-digit reference.⁵

The system checks automatically that the car has valid insurance and a current MOT before it accepts your payment.

If Your V5C Is Missing

You can still tax the car, but you have to apply for a replacement logbook at the same time. Take a completed V62 form to a Post Office that handles vehicle tax. The replacement V5C costs £25, and you can pay the tax in the same visit.⁵ If you’re a new keeper without the new keeper slip, you can’t tax the car until a V5C arrives, and it can’t be driven on public roads in the meantime.

Payment Frequency and the 5% Surcharge

You can pay 12 months upfront, six months, or monthly by Direct Debit. Paying annually is cheapest. Monthly and six-monthly Direct Debits both attract a 5% surcharge, and a six-month payment made without a Direct Debit costs even more.⁶

For a C3 on the £200 standard rate, the options work out as:

Annual single payment: £200
Monthly Direct Debit: £210 total over 12 payments
Six-month Direct Debit: £105 per instalment (£210 total)
Six-month single payment without Direct Debit: £110 per instalment (£220 total)

Taking the Car Off the Road

If the car won’t be driven or parked on public roads, file a Statutory Off Road Notification and stop paying tax. The car has to stay on private land, a driveway, or in a garage. You can apply online, by phone on 0300 123 4321, or by posting form V890 to the DVLA in Swansea.⁷

A SORN lasts until you tax the vehicle again. The only permitted road use is driving directly to or from a pre-booked MOT. Any other use can bring a court fine of up to £2,500.⁷ A SORN does not transfer with a sale, so a new owner has to tax the car or file their own.

Refunds

You get an automatic refund for any full months of tax left when you tell the DVLA the car has been sold, scrapped, written off, taken off the road with a SORN, or exported. The DVLA calculates the refund from the date it receives the notification and sends a cheque to the name and address on the V5C. Any active Direct Debit cancels automatically.⁸

You don’t get back credit card fees, the 5% Direct Debit surcharge, or the extra built into a single six-month payment. If the cheque hasn’t arrived after eight weeks, contact the DVLA for a replacement.⁸

Penalties if You Don’t Tax the Car

Letting the tax lapse without a SORN triggers an £80 late licensing penalty, halved to £40 if you pay within 33 days. This is the mildest outcome and the one most drivers run into.

Using an untaxed C3 on a public road is heavier. The DVLA can offer an out-of-court settlement of £30 plus one and a half times the outstanding tax. Ignore that and the case goes to a magistrates’ court, where the penalty is £1,000 or five times the unpaid tax, whichever is greater. Driving a vehicle that has an active SORN carries a court penalty of up to £2,500 or five times the tax owed. The DVLA can also clamp or impound an untaxed car, with release and storage fees on top, and vehicles left unclaimed in a pound for 7 to 14 days can be crushed, auctioned, or broken for parts.⁹

1
GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Rates – Cars Registered Between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017
2
GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Rates – Cars Registered on or After 1 April 2017
3
GOV.UK. V149 – Rates of Vehicle Tax – April 2026
4
GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax for Electric, Zero and Low Emission Vehicles
5
GOV.UK. Tax Your Vehicle Without a Vehicle Tax Reminder
6
GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Direct Debit Payments
7
GOV.UK. When You Need to Make a SORN
8
GOV.UK. Cancel Your Vehicle Tax and Get a Refund
9
GOV.UK. DVLA Enforcement of Vehicle Tax, Registration and Insurance Offences