How to Fill Out Form V55/4: First Vehicle Tax and Registration

Form V55/4 is the paper application for registering a brand-new vehicle with the DVLA and paying its first vehicle tax. To fill out Form V55/4, work through it with your Certificate of Conformity or type approval certificate in front of you, copy the technical details across exactly as they appear, choose the correct tax class, sign the declaration, and post the form to DVLA in Swansea with proof of identity, the £55 first registration fee, and your vehicle tax payment.¹

One boundary first, because it saves wasted effort: V55/4 is only for vehicles that have never been registered in the UK before. Previously registered used vehicles go on form V55/5 instead. If your vehicle lacks full type approval, you may need Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) testing before you can submit a V55/4.

Get Your Documents Together First

A missing certificate is the easiest way to have the whole application posted back to you. Before you write anything on the form, put these in a single pile:

Type approval evidence: a Certificate of Conformity, British National Type Approval certificate, or an IVA/GB conversion certificate.²
A Certificate of Newness or Declaration of Newness, normally supplied by the dealer or manufacturer.³
An MOT certificate if the vehicle is over three years old on the date of registration. A brand-new car does not need one.
Proof of your name and address (details below).
A valid insurance certificate or cover note, but only if you are registering to a Northern Ireland address.
Payment for the £55 first registration fee and your vehicle tax.

You can download the V55/4 as a PDF from GOV.UK and print it, or order a physical copy through the government portal.¹ The form runs to two pages of dense technical fields, so most of what you write comes straight off the type approval document.

Working Through the Form

Tax and Registration Fields

Leave the registration number box blank. The DVLA assigns that. You do need to enter the tax class, the period of tax you are applying for, and the date you want the vehicle tax to start. Write in the £55 registration fee and the vehicle tax amount that matches your chosen period and emissions band.

Vehicle Details

This is the bulk of the form. Copy the manufacturer name, make, model, body type, wheelplan, and colour exactly as they appear on your Certificate of Conformity or IVA certificate. The technical fields ask for the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), a 17-character code typically stamped on the chassis or visible through the windscreen on the dashboard. You also need the engine number, cylinder capacity in cc, fuel type, unladen weight in kilograms, number of seats including the driver, and CO2 emissions in g/km.³

Get the VIN and engine number right the first time. Mismatched numbers between the form and your certificates can trigger a physical inspection at a DVLA local site before registration is granted, and serious discrepancies may prompt a fraud investigation. Cross-check every character against the manufacturer’s documents rather than reading it off the vehicle, where wear or dirt can make digits ambiguous.

Keeper Details and Declaration

Enter the name, address, and date of birth of the person who will be the registered keeper, plus a phone number and email address. If the vehicle weighs over 3,500kg, sections 71–73 apply for weight declarations for heavy goods vehicles. For M1 type-approved vehicles (standard passenger cars), you must give the list price or notional price of the vehicle, which determines whether the expensive car supplement applies to your tax. Sign and date the declaration at the bottom.

Choosing the Right Tax Class

The tax class you enter determines how much Vehicle Excise Duty you pay. Get it wrong and you can void your vehicle tax entirely, leaving you liable for penalties if you drive on public roads. The DVLA publishes a full list, but most private applicants will use one of these:

Petrol car, for cars powered by petrol engines.
Diesel car, for cars powered by diesel engines.
Alternative fuel car, for hybrids and cars running on fuels other than standard petrol or diesel.
Electrically propelled vehicle, for fully electric cars.
Private light goods (PLG), for light commercial and dual-purpose vehicles used for non-specialised transport.
Motorcycle, for motor bicycles and motorcycles not exceeding 450kg unladen.
Disabled, for vehicles used solely by or for a disabled person; the vehicle must be registered in the disabled person’s name or the nominated person named on the exemption certificate.⁴

If you are unsure which applies, the DVLA’s V355 notes walk through each one. For new cars registered on or after 1 April 2026, the first-year rate for petrol and diesel cars is set by CO2 band, ranging from £10 for zero-emission vehicles up to £5,690 for cars emitting over 255 g/km.⁵ After year one, most cars move to a standard annual rate of £200.⁶ Cars with a list price over £50,000 when new attract an additional annual supplement on top of the standard rate for the first five years at the standard rate, which is why the form asks for the list price.

Proving Your Identity

Send a photocopy of your photocard driving licence with the application. If you do not have one, send two alternatives instead: one document proving your name and one proving your address.⁷

Documents that prove your name include a passport, birth or adoption certificate, marriage or civil partnership certificate, decree absolute or final order from a divorce, Gender Recognition Certificate, or a current UK paper driving licence. Documents that prove your address include a utility bill from the last three months (gas, electricity, water, or landline), a bank or building society statement from the last three months, a medical card, or a council tax bill for the current year.⁷

Send photocopies of the identity documents, not originals. The DVLA does return original certificates submitted with the application, but working from copies for your licence and proof of address avoids unnecessary risk.

If the vehicle is being registered to a Northern Ireland address, you must also include a valid certificate of insurance or cover note that is active on the date the vehicle tax starts. Downloaded copies of the insurance certificate are acceptable; plain photocopies are not.³ This does not apply to registrations at addresses in England, Scotland, or Wales.

Where to Send It and What to Pay

Post the completed V55/4, supporting documents, and payment to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BE.²

The first registration fee is £55, which is non-refundable.⁸ You pay the vehicle tax at the same time. For a postal application, payment is typically by cheque or postal order made payable to DVLA. Include both amounts, either as a single payment or as two, but check the payee name carefully; a wrong payee sends the whole application back.

What Happens After You Send It

The DVLA reviews your form and the certificates you sent with it. If everything checks out, you receive a V5C registration certificate (the logbook) by post.³ Postal V55/4 applications generally take several weeks, particularly if the form is hard to read or any information needs to be queried. Original supporting documents come back separately, often by secure post.

The DVLA sometimes requires a physical inspection of the vehicle at a local site to verify the VIN or engine numbers before registration is granted. This is more likely where form data does not precisely match the certificates, or with an unusual vehicle such as a kit car.

If the DVLA rejects the application, it sends the form back with an explanation. The most common reasons are mismatched VIN or engine numbers, an incorrect or missing type approval certificate, choosing the wrong tax class, or illegible handwriting. Fix the issue and resubmit to the same Swansea address. You do not need to pay the £55 registration fee again if the original payment was already processed and the rejection was not due to a bounced cheque.