Every motorcycle used on a UK road sits in a vehicle tax class that sets its annual Vehicle Excise Duty. For two-wheelers the motorcycle tax class is TC17, which covers motorcycles with or without a sidecar and splits into four bands by engine size: £27 a year up to 150cc, £59 from 151cc to 400cc, £90 from 401cc to 600cc, and £125 over 600cc. Three-wheeled vehicles use a separate class, TC50, and electric bikes have their own rule since April 2025. Your V5C registration certificate shows the class recorded against your bike.
Rates by Engine Size Under TC17
Engine displacement in cubic centimeters is the only variable inside TC17. Weight, power, and value make no difference, so a 650cc cruiser and a 1,200cc tourer both pay the top £125 rate.
- Not over 150cc: £27 a year. No six-month option at this tier.
- 151cc to 400cc: £59 a year, or £32.45 for six months.
- 401cc to 600cc: £90 a year, or £49.50 for six months.
- Over 600cc: £125 a year, or £68.75 for six months.
Check the engine capacity printed on your V5C to confirm which band applies.1GOV.UK. Other Vehicle Tax Rates
Three-Wheelers Are Not in TC17
A tricycle or other three-wheeled vehicle weighing no more than 450kg unladen falls under tax class TC50, not the motorcycle class. TC50 has only two tiers: £27 a year up to 150cc (or for zero-emission trikes), and £125 a year for anything larger, with a six-month option of £68.75. A three-wheeler over 150cc pays the same annual figure as the biggest motorcycles regardless of its actual displacement. If a three-wheeled vehicle exceeds 450kg unladen it leaves TC50 entirely and is classed with heavier vehicles at different rates.1GOV.UK. Other Vehicle Tax Rates
Electric Motorcycles After April 2025
Zero-emission motorcycles used to be fully exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty. That changed in April 2025. Electric motorcycles and electric tricycles now pay the smallest-engine rate of £27 a year.2GOV.UK. Vehicle Tax for Electric, Zero and Low Emission Vehicles Even at £27 you still have to tax the vehicle. Riding without valid tax is an offence whatever the amount owed.3GOV.UK. Vehicles Exempt From Vehicle Tax
Historic Motorcycles Pay Nothing
Motorcycles old enough to count as historic vehicles are exempt from VED. The rule rolls on a 40-year cycle: from 1 April 2026, any motorcycle built before 1 January 1986 qualifies. If the build date is unknown but the bike was first registered before 8 January 1986, you can still apply.4GOV.UK. Historic (Classic) Vehicles: MOT and Vehicle Tax – Historic Vehicle Tax Exemption
The exemption removes the fee, not the paperwork. You still have to tax the bike each year; the rate is simply £0. A historic motorcycle left untaxed on a public road without a SORN is still open to enforcement.
Disability Exemption
If you receive a qualifying disability benefit, one vehicle registered in your name or a nominated driver’s name can be made fully exempt from vehicle tax, and that vehicle can be a motorcycle. It has to be used for the disabled person’s personal needs. The qualifying benefits are the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, the enhanced rate mobility component of Personal Independence Payment, the enhanced rate mobility component of Adult Disability Payment, War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement, and Armed Forces Independence Payment. Only one vehicle at a time is covered, and the exemption has to be transferred when you change vehicles.5GOV.UK. Financial Help if You’re Disabled: Vehicles and Transport
How to Pay and the Direct Debit Surcharge
You can tax a motorcycle online at vehicletax.service.gov.uk, by phone on 0300 123 4321, or at a Post Office. Each route needs a reference number from a recent tax reminder, your V5C in your name, or the green new keeper slip if you have just bought the bike. Direct Debit cannot be set up over the phone. At a Post Office you may need to show a valid MOT, and in Northern Ireland you also need a paper insurance certificate or cover note and the original MOT test certificate.6GOV.UK. Tax Your Vehicle
Paying the full annual amount in one go is the cheapest option. If you spread payments monthly or every six months by Direct Debit, the DVLA adds a 5% surcharge. On a bike over 600cc that turns £125 into £131.25 across twelve monthly payments. A single annual Direct Debit avoids the surcharge. The six-month option only exists for motorcycles above 150cc; the smallest bikes pay their £27 in one annual amount.1GOV.UK. Other Vehicle Tax Rates
Changing Your Motorcycle’s Tax Class
The commonest reason to change class is crossing into the historic band. Others include an engine swap that changes the displacement bracket, a conversion to electric power, or fixing a classification error on the V5C. If your current tax still has time to run, mark the changes on the V5C and post it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BF.7GOV.UK. Change Your Vehicle’s Tax Class – Tax Is Not Due to Run Out If tax is about to expire or you need to re-tax straight away under the new class, a Post Office can handle the change and the payment together; take the V5C in your name, or a completed V62 if you do not have one, plus payment. DVLA sends an updated V5C afterwards, and any overpayment under the old class is refunded automatically.8GOV.UK. Change Your Vehicle’s Tax Class – Tax Due to Run Out
If the Bike Is Not Being Ridden
A motorcycle that is neither taxed nor insured needs a Statutory Off Road Notification. Without one, an automatic £80 fine follows a lapse in tax. A SORN stays in force until you tax the bike again or transfer it to a new keeper, and it does not carry over on sale.9GOV.UK. When You Need to Make a SORN: Overview