How to Update Your Car Tax Online and In Person

You can update your car tax online at GOV.UK in a few minutes, using an 11-digit reference number from your V5C logbook, a 16-digit number from a V11 reminder letter, or a 12-digit number from the green new keeper slip if you’ve just bought the vehicle. The payment takes effect as soon as it goes through, provided your car already has valid insurance and, where required, a current MOT.

What You Need Before You Start

Three reference numbers can get you into the system. The 11-digit number printed on your V5C registration certificate works if the logbook is in your name.¹ If DVLA has sent you a V11 tax reminder, the 16-digit number on that letter works too.² If you’ve just bought the car and the V5C is still in the seller’s name, use the 12-digit number on the green V5C/2 new keeper slip they should have torn out and handed to you.

Without any of those, you can’t tax the vehicle online or by phone. A replacement V5C costs £25 from DVLA and usually arrives within five to seven working days.³ If your tax is close to expiring, order the replacement before the deadline creeps up.

The system also checks your insurance and MOT records live when you enter your details. If your vehicle needs an MOT and doesn’t have a valid one, or if it isn’t currently insured, the form will refuse the payment.⁴ Sort those first, then tax the car.

Taxing Your Vehicle Online

Go to the “Tax your vehicle” page on GOV.UK and enter your reference number. The site pulls up your vehicle’s make, model, engine size, and current tax status. Check the details match before you continue.

You then choose your payment length: 12 months, 6 months, or monthly by Direct Debit. What you pay depends on the vehicle’s CO2 emissions and fuel type. For most cars registered after 1 April 2017, the standard annual rate is £200. Zero-emission cars registered on or after 1 April 2025 also pay £200 a year. Cars with a list price above £40,000 at first registration (or £50,000 for zero-emission vehicles) pay an extra £440 a year for the first five years after the initial licence.⁵

Paying the full year upfront by debit or credit card is the cheapest way to do it. Monthly or six-monthly Direct Debit adds a 5% surcharge on top of the total.⁶ A full year by Direct Debit carries no surcharge. On a £200 annual rate the surcharge is £10 a year, which is small in isolation and less small over several years of ownership.

Taxing at a Post Office or by Phone

Not every driver wants to pay online. Two alternatives carry the same legal effect.

Any Post Office branch that handles vehicle tax can process the payment in person. Bring your V5C or new keeper slip, your V11 if you have one, and your MOT certificate if the vehicle needs one.⁷ This is also the easiest route if you need to update your address on the V5C at the same time.

You can also tax by phone by calling DVLA on 0300 123 4321. The line runs 24 hours. Have your V5C or new keeper slip in front of you before you dial.¹

Taxing a Car You’ve Just Bought

When you buy a used car, the seller’s remaining tax is cancelled automatically and refunded to them. It does not transfer with the vehicle. You have to tax the car yourself before you drive it, and there is no grace period; driving an untaxed vehicle on a public road is an offence from the moment ownership changes.

Use the 12-digit reference number on the green V5C/2 new keeper slip to tax it online.¹ Most buyers do this on their phone at the point of sale. If the seller hasn’t given you the new keeper slip, you can’t tax the car online or by phone, and you’ll need to apply for a new V5C by post before you can drive it home.

Once DVLA processes the change of keeper, the previous owner receives an automatic refund for any full months of tax left. The refund is calculated from the date DVLA is notified, so sellers benefit from telling DVLA promptly.⁸

Updating Your Address or Vehicle Details

If you move house, the address on your V5C has to change. You can update it online through the GOV.UK “change your address” service, or by filling in the relevant section of the logbook and posting it to DVLA.⁹ Failing to notify DVLA can result in a fine of up to £1,000, and any tax reminder or traffic notice sent to your old address is still legally served on you.

If your tax is due within the next four weeks, pay it online before posting the logbook off, or you’ll be without the V5C when you need it. The alternative is taking the logbook to a Post Office that handles vehicle tax and doing both jobs in one visit.⁹

Changes to the vehicle itself, such as an engine swap, a fuel-type conversion, or a colour change, also have to be reported. Engine size and fuel type can shift the vehicle into a different tax band, and you’ll usually need to send the logbook in so DVLA can update the record and recalculate what you owe. Get that done before the next renewal so the tax you pay matches what you’re actually driving.

If You’re Not Using the Vehicle: SORN

If the car is off the road and you don’t want to keep paying tax and insurance on it, make a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN). This tells DVLA you’re keeping the vehicle on private land, and it stays in force until you tax the car again or sell it.¹⁰ A SORN is free.

You can make one online with your 11-digit V5C reference or your 16-digit V11 reference, by phone on 0300 123 4321, or by posting a V890 form.² If your tax has already expired, the SORN takes effect immediately. If you apply during the month your tax is due to expire, it starts on the first day of the following month. A SORN does not transfer with the vehicle: if you buy a SORNed car and want to keep it off the road, you have to make your own.

The rule is one or the other. If a registered vehicle is neither taxed nor SORNed, DVLA treats that as evasion and issues an automatic £80 fine.¹⁰

Exempt Vehicles Still Have to Apply

Some vehicles pay a £0 rate, including those used by disabled people, historic vehicles built more than 40 years before 1 January of the current year, and certain agricultural vehicles. Being exempt from paying is not the same as being exempt from the process. You still have to apply for vehicle tax; you just pay nothing.⁵ Skip the application and DVLA’s database still shows the vehicle as untaxed, which triggers enforcement regardless of the rate.

What Happens If You Don’t Renew

DVLA enforcement runs on automatic number plate recognition cameras that scan cars on the road and cross-check them against the tax database in real time.¹¹ A vehicle flagged as untaxed generates enforcement action without anyone having to notice it manually.

The usual first step is a Late Licensing Penalty of £80, reduced to £40 if paid within 33 days. Being caught using or keeping an untaxed vehicle without a SORN brings an Out of Court Settlement of £30 plus one-and-a-half times the outstanding tax. Ignored, it goes to a magistrates’ court where the maximum fine is £1,000 or five times the tax owed, whichever is greater.¹² The vehicle can also be clamped: £100 to release it within 24 hours, or £200 plus £21 a day in storage if it gets towed. Under continuous insurance enforcement, keeping an uninsured vehicle without a SORN is a separate offence carrying a £100 fixed penalty and up to £1,000 in court.¹³

Checking It Worked

After paying, verify the new status on the GOV.UK “Check if a vehicle is taxed” service. You only need the registration number, and it shows the current tax expiry date and MOT status.¹⁴ Online payments usually update the record almost immediately. Keep your confirmation email until you’ve seen the new expiry date on the check page. If something still looks wrong after a few days, call DVLA on 0300 123 4321 before an enforcement letter turns up.

1
GOV.UK. Tax Your Vehicle Without a Vehicle Tax Reminder
2
GOV.UK. Register Your Vehicle as Off the Road (SORN)
3
GOV.UK. Get a Vehicle Log Book (V5C)
4
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. 5 Myth-Busting Facts About Taxing Your Vehicle
5
GOV.UK. V149 – Rates of Vehicle Tax April 2026
6
GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Direct Debit Payments – Set Up a Direct Debit
7
Post Office. Tax Your Vehicle
8
GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax Direct Debit Payments – Cancel a Direct Debit
9
GOV.UK. Change Your Address on Your Vehicle Log Book (V5C)
10
GOV.UK. When You Need to Make a SORN – Overview
11
GOV.UK. How DVLA Uses Automatic Number Plate Recognition
12
GOV.UK. DVLA Enforcement of Vehicle Tax, Registration and Insurance Offences
13
GOV.UK. Vehicle Insurance – Uninsured Vehicles
14
GOV.UK. Check if a Vehicle Is Taxed