The ULEZ tax, properly called the Ultra Low Emission Zone charge, costs £12.50 a day for anyone driving a non-compliant car, van, or motorcycle anywhere in Greater London. It runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year except Christmas Day.1London City Hall. The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) for London The zone boundary follows the outer edge of the Greater London Authority area, so almost every road in every London borough is inside it, residential streets included.2London.gov.uk. What Is the New Boundary
Each charging day runs from midnight to midnight rather than from the moment you enter the zone. Drive in at 11pm and leave at 1am and you have crossed two charging days, so you owe £25.
Does Your Vehicle Have to Pay?
Whether you owe the charge depends on the Euro emission standard your vehicle was built to, not its age on the road.
- Petrol cars and vans must meet Euro 4. Most petrol vehicles first registered as new after 2005 satisfy this, and some models from 2001 onward also qualify.3Transport for London. Cars
- Diesel cars and vans must meet Euro 6, which generally means first registration after September 2015.3Transport for London. Cars
- Motorcycles and mopeds must meet Euro 3, which typically covers models registered after 2007.
Registration date is only a rough guide. The official test is the Euro standard recorded against your vehicle. To check for certain, use the TfL vehicle checker at tfl.gov.uk and enter your number plate; it pulls the emission standard from DVLA records and tells you whether the ULEZ charge, the Congestion Charge, or both apply to your journey.4Transport for London. Check Your Vehicle
The Central London Congestion Charge is a separate scheme. It applies only within a smaller central zone during set hours and, from January 2026, costs £18 per day when paid on the day of travel. A driver in a non-compliant vehicle entering central London on a weekday could owe both charges on the same day. Larger vehicles over 3.5 tonnes fall under the London-wide Low Emission Zone instead, with its own steeper daily rates.
Who Is Exempt
Several categories of vehicle pay nothing regardless of emission standard:
- Historic vehicles in the DVLA’s “Historic” tax class, meaning at least 40 years old and not used commercially.
- Vehicles registered in the “Disabled” or “Disabled Passenger” tax class.5GOV.UK. Clean Air Zones
- Military vehicles and certain agricultural vehicles.
- Vehicles fitted with technology certified under the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme (CVRAS).5GOV.UK. Clean Air Zones
These exemptions are automatic as long as the tax class or retrofit is already recorded with the DVLA. No separate application to TfL is needed.
How to Pay
You can pay through TfL’s website, the Pay to Drive in London app, or by phone.6Transport for London. Paying the ULEZ Charge The payment window opens before your trip and stays open until midnight on the third day after you drove in the zone.7Transport for London. Penalty Charges for ULEZ Pay after that and you get a penalty notice instead.
For regular drivers, Auto Pay is the easier route. TfL bills you monthly only for days your vehicle was detected in the zone, and while you’re registered you’re protected from penalty notices for missed payments.8Transport for London. Auto Pay
What Happens If You Don’t Pay
Miss the deadline and TfL issues a Penalty Charge Notice to the registered keeper. The standard penalty is £180, reduced to £90 if you pay within 14 days.7Transport for London. Penalty Charges for ULEZ Ignoring it leads to escalating enforcement and possible debt recovery.
If you think the penalty was issued in error, you have 28 days from the date the notice was served to submit a formal representation to TfL.9Transport for London. Challenge a Penalty Charge Notice Valid grounds include that you weren’t the registered keeper at the time, that you had already paid, that no charge was due, or that the vehicle was used without your consent.10London Tribunals. Grounds of Appeal If TfL rejects the representation, you can escalate to the independent London Tribunals for a final decision.11GOV.UK. Appeal Against a Penalty Charge Notice
If Your Vehicle Doesn’t Meet the Standard
Replacing the vehicle with a compliant one is the most straightforward option. Retrofitting is possible for some vehicles but not most. The CVRAS certifies aftermarket technology that brings a vehicle up to the required Euro standard, and approved options exist for certain Euro 5 diesel vans and some heavy goods vehicles, but there are currently no approved retrofit systems for petrol or diesel passenger cars.12Energy Saving Trust. Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme Swapping the engine or converting a car to LPG does not change the Euro standard recorded by the DVLA, so neither route makes a car compliant.
TfL previously ran a scrappage scheme with grants toward replacing non-compliant vehicles, but it closed in late 2024 and no further funding has been announced. For most car owners, the realistic choice is to pay the daily charge, switch to a compliant vehicle, or avoid driving in Greater London.
Claiming ULEZ Charges as a Business Expense
If you’re self-employed and the journey was wholly for business, HMRC allows you to deduct ULEZ charges from your taxable profits through self-assessment. HMRC has confirmed that low emission zone charges qualify as allowable travel expenses for sole traders when incurred wholly for the purposes of the trade.13GOV.UK. Expenses and Benefits: Congestion and Clean Air Zone Charges Employers reimbursing staff for ULEZ charges should check HMRC’s guidance on whether that reimbursement counts as a taxable benefit.