Car tax for a Fiat 500 is £200 a year for almost every model first registered on or after 1 April 2017, once the first-year charge has been paid. Older Fiat 500s registered between March 2001 and March 2017 sit on the CO2 band system and pay between £20 and £170 a year depending on emissions. What you actually owe comes down to three things: when the car was first registered, what powers it, and how you choose to pay.
Fiat 500s Registered From April 2017
If your Fiat 500 was first registered on or after 1 April 2017, you pay a flat standard rate of £200 for a 12-month tax period.1GOV.UK. Rates of Vehicle Tax for Cars, Motorcycles, Light Goods Vehicles and Private Light Goods Vehicles – April 2026 The rate is the same for petrol models, the mild-hybrid version, and the electric 500e. The old £10 discount for alternative-fuel and hybrid vehicles has been removed.2GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax for Electric, Zero and Low Emission Vehicles
The first year works differently. When a brand-new Fiat 500 is registered, the initial 12-month payment is set by CO2 emissions rather than the flat rate. For most petrol and hybrid Fiat 500s, with emissions in the 101 to 130 g/km range, that first-year charge falls between £405 and £455.1GOV.UK. Rates of Vehicle Tax for Cars, Motorcycles, Light Goods Vehicles and Private Light Goods Vehicles – April 2026 Every renewal after that drops to £200. Buying used means you skip the first-year rate entirely and go straight to the standard rate.
The Electric 500e
Electric Fiat 500e owners paid nothing in vehicle tax until April 2025, when the Finance Act 2023 brought zero-emission cars into the VED system.3House of Commons Library. Vehicle Excise Duty and Zero Emission Vehicles A new 500e registered from April 2025 onward pays a £10 first-year charge, then the full £200 standard rate from year two.1GOV.UK. Rates of Vehicle Tax for Cars, Motorcycles, Light Goods Vehicles and Private Light Goods Vehicles – April 2026 Owners of 500es registered between April 2017 and March 2025 moved onto the standard rate at their first renewal in 2025.
Fiat 500s Registered Before April 2017
Cars first registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 stay on the older band system, which runs from Band A for the lowest emissions through Band M for the highest. Your rate is locked to whichever band your car was placed in at registration.4GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Rates – Cars Registered Between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017
The Fiat 500’s small engines kept most versions in the lower bands. The 0.9-litre TwinAir typically came in under 100 g/km, putting it in Band A at £20 a year. Many 1.2-litre petrol versions tested between 110 and 120 g/km under the old NEDC cycle, landing them in Band B or C at £20 or £35. Some later 1.2-litre variants with slightly higher emissions fall into Band D at £170 a year.1GOV.UK. Rates of Vehicle Tax for Cars, Motorcycles, Light Goods Vehicles and Private Light Goods Vehicles – April 2026
The jump from £35 in Band C to £170 in Band D catches people out. A difference of just a few grams of CO2 around the 120 g/km boundary can cost you an extra £135 every year. The only way to be sure of your band is to check the CO2 figure on your V5C registration document against the current rate table.
How You Pay Changes the Total
You can pay annually in one go, every six months, or monthly by direct debit. Paying in instalments costs slightly more.
- Annual single payment: £200
- Six-monthly by direct debit: £105 per half, £210 across the year
- Monthly by direct debit: £210 across 12 instalments
Spreading the cost adds £10 a year compared with a single annual payment.1GOV.UK. Rates of Vehicle Tax for Cars, Motorcycles, Light Goods Vehicles and Private Light Goods Vehicles – April 2026 Six-monthly and monthly options are only available through direct debit, so a UK bank account set up for it is required.
Buying a Used Fiat 500
Vehicle tax does not transfer with the car. If you buy a used Fiat 500, you have to tax it yourself before driving away, even if the previous owner’s tax still has months left to run.5GOV.UK. Tell DVLA You’ve Sold, Transferred or Bought a Vehicle The seller gets a refund for any full remaining months. This catches out plenty of private buyers who assume a recently taxed car is road-legal in their hands. The moment ownership changes, the existing tax is void.
If You Don’t Pay, or Aren’t Driving It
Letting the tax lapse triggers an automatic £80 late licensing penalty, reduced to £40 if you pay within 33 days. Unpaid cases escalate to an out-of-court settlement of £30 plus one and a half times the outstanding tax, and eventually to prosecution in a magistrates’ court, where the fine is the greater of £1,000 or five times the tax owed. The vehicle can also be clamped or impounded.6GOV.UK. DVLA Enforcement of Vehicle Tax, Registration and Insurance Offences The DVLA uses automatic number plate recognition cameras across the road network, so untaxed cars rarely go unnoticed.7GOV.UK. Pay a DVLA Fine
If the Fiat 500 is not being driven or kept on a public road, you can file a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) instead of paying tax. This exempts you from tax until you either tax the car again or sell it, but the car must stay on private property the whole time.8GOV.UK. Register Your Vehicle as Off the Road (SORN) Parking an untaxed, un-SORNed car on a public street invites clamping and fines.
Checking Your Exact Rate
The fastest way to see what your Fiat 500 owes is the DVLA’s free online vehicle enquiry service. Enter the registration number and it shows the current tax status, the rate due, and when tax expires.9GOV.UK. Get Vehicle Information from DVLA Your V5C also lists the CO2 emissions figure and first registration date, the two numbers that decide your rate under the older band system. To pay, use the DVLA’s vehicle tax service online with either your V5C reference number or the 11-digit number from a recent tax reminder.