To check your car tax band by reg number, use the DVLA’s free vehicle enquiry service on GOV.UK. Type in the registration mark from the number plate and the site returns the CO2 emissions figure, fuel type, current tax status, expiry date, and the annual rate you’ll pay. The whole check takes under a minute and needs nothing beyond the reg.
Running the Check on GOV.UK
Go to the “Get vehicle information from DVLA” page and click Start now.1GOV.UK. Get Vehicle Information From DVLA Enter the registration number exactly as it appears on the plates. The next screen shows the make and colour of the vehicle the DVLA has on file, so you can confirm you’ve typed the reg correctly before continuing.
Once confirmed, the results page displays the technical details linked to that registration in the DVLA’s national database, including the CO2 emissions figure that determines the band, the fuel type, and the tax rate that applies.
The reg is the only thing you need for a lookup. You don’t need the V5C logbook, insurance details, or an account. The V5C’s 11-digit reference number only comes into play if you want to actually tax the vehicle, declare it off-road, or change keeper details.2GOV.UK. Tax Your Vehicle Without a Vehicle Tax Reminder
What Determines Which Band Your Car Falls Into
Three things drive the calculation: when the car was first registered, its CO2 emissions, and its fuel type. Cars registered before emissions testing came in are taxed on engine size alone. For cars registered from April 2017 there’s a fourth factor — the original list price, because anything over £40,000 new attracts an extra annual charge.
Diesel cars that don’t meet the Real Driving Emissions 2 (RDE2) standard for nitrogen oxide face higher first-year rates than equivalent petrol models. The CO2 figure itself is locked in at the point of manufacture through standardised testing and stays with the car for tax purposes even if the vehicle has since been modified.
Rates for Cars Registered Before 1 March 2001
The oldest system is the simplest. Two bands, based on engine size:3GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Rates for Cars and Light Goods Vehicles Registered Before 1 March 2001
- 1,549cc or smaller: £230 per year
- Over 1,549cc: £375 per year
Emissions data doesn’t come into it for these vehicles. The engine capacity recorded at first registration is the only variable.
Rates for Cars Registered Between March 2001 and March 2017
This era introduced emissions-based banding. Thirteen bands labelled A through M cover the full CO2 range measured in grams per kilometre.4GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Rates – Cars Registered Between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 Band A, up to 100 g/km, sits at £20 per year. Band M, above 255 g/km, sits at the top of the scale. Rates for each band are adjusted in the annual budget.
The DVLA enquiry service will show which letter band applies to a given reg, so you don’t need to look up the CO2 figure and match it to a table yourself.
Rates for Cars Registered From 1 April 2017
The current system splits the tax into two stages.5GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax for Cars Registered From 1 April 2017 Year one is tied to emissions. From year two onward, most cars drop to a flat standard rate.
First-year rates vary enormously. A zero-emission car pays £10. A petrol or diesel model emitting over 255 g/km of CO2 faces a first-year charge of £5,690.6GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Rates – Cars Registered on or After 1 April 2017 The first-year figure is usually rolled into the on-the-road price when a car is bought new, so many drivers don’t see it as a separate line.
From the second year, the standard rate is £200 per year regardless of emissions.6GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Rates – Cars Registered on or After 1 April 2017 The £10 annual discount that alternative fuel vehicles used to receive was removed from April 2025.
The £40,000 List Price Supplement
Cars with an original list price above £40,000 attract an additional annual charge called the Expensive Car Supplement. It adds £425 per year on top of the standard rate for five years, running from the second through the sixth year after registration.7UK Parliament. Vehicle Excise Duty and Zero Emission Vehicles The list price is the manufacturer’s recommended retail price plus any factory-fitted optional extras before delivery, not what was actually paid after any discount.
A post-2017 petrol car that cost £45,000 new therefore pays £625 per year (£200 standard plus £425 supplement) during years two through six, then drops to £200 from year seven.
From April 2026, the threshold for zero-emission vehicles rises to £50,000, so electric cars priced between £40,001 and £50,000 will no longer attract the supplement.8GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax for Electric, Zero and Low Emission Vehicles Non-electric cars keep the £40,000 threshold.
Electric and Zero-Emission Cars
Electric cars were fully exempt from vehicle tax until April 2025. Zero-emission vehicles registered from 1 April 2025 now pay £10 for the first year and then the £200 standard rate from year two.8GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax for Electric, Zero and Low Emission Vehicles
Zero-emission cars registered before April 2017 remain at £0. Those registered between April 2017 and March 2025 also currently pay £0 for the standard rate, though that is subject to future budget changes. When buying a used electric car, the registration date is what determines the annual bill, so it’s worth running the reg through the DVLA service before agreeing a price.
Checking Whether the Tax Is Actually Paid
The vehicle enquiry service shows the band and the rate. If all you want to know is whether a specific car currently has valid tax and when it expires, GOV.UK runs a separate, faster page called “Check if a vehicle is taxed.”9GOV.UK. Check if a Vehicle Is Taxed That check also needs only the registration number. It’s the one most people use when buying a used car, because tax no longer transfers with the vehicle at sale — the seller’s tax ends and the new keeper has to tax it before driving away.