DVLA Car Tax Rates: VED Bands, Supplements and Exemptions

DVLA car tax rates depend on three things: when your car was first registered, its CO2 emissions or engine size, and, for newer cars, whether its original list price was above £40,000. From April 2026, most petrol and diesel cars registered since April 2017 pay a flat £200 a year after the first year, while first-year charges on the highest-emitting new cars reach £5,690.¹ If your vehicle sits on a public road, it must either be taxed or covered by a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).²

Cars Registered on or After April 2017

Vehicle excise duty (VED) for this group works in two stages. In year one, you pay a rate tied to the car’s CO2 output. From year two, almost every car drops to the same standard rate of £200 a year regardless of fuel or emissions.³

First-Year Rates From April 2026

For petrol cars and diesels meeting the RDE2 standard, the first-year charges are:¹

0 g/km: £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

Diesel cars that do not meet the RDE2 standard pay one band higher than petrol equivalents at most emission levels, so check whether your diesel qualifies before assuming the lower figure. The jump at 151 g/km is where the system bites hardest: crossing that line nearly triples the charge.

The Standard £200 Rate

From the second time you tax the car onwards, the rate is £200 a year whether the vehicle emits 50 g/km or 300 g/km. The environmental incentive is front-loaded into year one; after that, running costs stay predictable.

The Expensive Car Supplement

If your car’s original list price was above £40,000, you pay an extra £440 a year on top of the standard rate. The supplement starts in year two and runs for five years before dropping away.¹ A petrol or diesel car above the threshold therefore costs £640 a year during years two to six.

The list price isn’t what you paid the dealer. It’s the manufacturer’s published price including VAT, delivery, and factory-fitted options. Dealer discounts don’t reduce it, and the supplement follows the vehicle rather than the owner. A three-year-old luxury car bought used for £25,000 still carries it if the original list price was above the threshold.

For zero-emission electric vehicles first registered on or after 1 April 2025, the threshold is £50,000 rather than £40,000.⁴

Cars Registered Between March 2001 and March 2017

Cars first registered in this window are taxed on their official CO2 figure in grams per kilometre, sorted into thirteen bands from A (up to 100 g/km) through M (over 255 g/km). Band A currently costs £20 a year and Band M £790.⁵

The band is locked in at first registration and never changes, even if later testing standards would produce a different figure. For used buyers that’s useful: look up the band before purchase and you know the annual bill for the life of the car. The full band-by-band table is published on GOV.UK and in the DVLA’s V149 rate leaflet.¹

Cars Registered Before March 2001

Older cars are taxed purely by engine size. Engines of 1,549cc or smaller sit in the lower band; anything above that falls into the higher one.¹ The exact figure is uprated each April, so check the current V149 leaflet. The engine capacity on the V5C tells you which band applies.

Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

Electric vehicles lost their VED exemption on 1 April 2025. Every EV on UK roads now pays tax, and the rate depends on when the car was first registered:⁶

Registered on or after 1 April 2025: £10 in year one, then £200 a year.
Registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025: £200 a year.
Registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017: £20 a year (Band A).

The expensive car supplement applies to EVs above the £50,000 list-price threshold in the same way it does to petrol and diesel cars above £40,000. The separate £10-a-year discount that hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles used to receive has also gone; from April 2025 hybrids, LPG and bioethanol cars pay the same as petrol and diesel equivalents.⁶

Motorcycles and Vans

Motorcycles are taxed by engine size. From April 2026 the annual rates are £27 up to 150cc (or zero-emission), £59 from 151–400cc, £90 from 401–600cc, and £125 above 600cc.¹

Light goods vehicles up to 3,500kg registered on or after 1 March 2001 pay a flat £360 a year regardless of emissions. Vans above 3,500kg fall under the heavy goods vehicle regime instead.¹

Exemptions

Some vehicles pay nothing. The main one is the historic vehicle exemption: a car or motorcycle built before 1 January 1985 qualifies for free tax from 1 April 2025 onwards, and the threshold rolls forward by a year each April. You still have to apply for the tax; the cost is £0.⁷

Vehicles used by disabled people can also qualify for a zero rate, subject to DVLA eligibility rules tied to certain benefits. Agricultural vehicles, some military vehicles, and certain vehicles used by charities are also exempt.⁸

How to Pay and the Direct Debit Surcharge

You can tax a vehicle online at GOV.UK, at a Post Office, or by phone. Online is usually quickest, and Direct Debit is only available through the online or phone routes.⁹

Paying the full year in one go is the cheapest option. Monthly or six-monthly Direct Debit adds a 5% surcharge.¹ A £200 annual bill becomes £210 spread over twelve months, or two six-monthly payments of £105. A car carrying the expensive car supplement moves from £640 a year to £672 paid monthly. Small numbers per month, but they build up over the life of the car.

What Happens If You Don’t Pay

The DVLA moves fast. If your tax lapses and you haven’t filed a SORN, an automatic £80 late licensing penalty is issued. Pay within 33 days and it drops to £40.¹⁰

Ignore it and enforcement escalates. The DVLA can clamp the vehicle on the street and, if that doesn’t get it resolved, tow it to an impound. Reclaiming it costs a £200 release fee on top of any outstanding tax and penalties, and a vehicle left in the pound long enough will be crushed or sold. Automatic number plate recognition cameras are used to identify untaxed vehicles, so relying on not being spotted is a poor bet.¹⁰

1
GOV.UK. Rates of Vehicle Tax for Cars, Motorcycles, Light Goods Vehicles and Private Light Goods Vehicles April 2026
2
GOV.UK. Register Your Vehicle as Off the Road (SORN)
3
GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Rates – Cars Registered on or After 1 April 2017
4
GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax for Electric, Zero and Low Emission Vehicles – Section: Additional Rate (Expensive Car Supplement)
5
GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Rates – Cars Registered Between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017
6
GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax for Electric, Zero and Low Emission Vehicles
7
GOV.UK. Historic (Classic) Vehicles – MOT and Vehicle Tax – Eligibility
8
GOV.UK. Vehicles Exempt From Vehicle Tax
9
GOV.UK. Tax Your Vehicle
10
Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency. DVLA Enforcement of Vehicle Tax, Registration and Insurance Offences – Section: Enforcement of Vehicle Tax Offences