UK Road Tax (VED): The Complete Guide

Road tax — officially Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), and known to everyone as car tax or vehicle tax — is the annual duty charged on almost every vehicle used or kept on UK roads. It is collected by the DVLA, enforced automatically by number-plate cameras, and it sits behind some of the most common problems drivers run into: cars bought without realising they were untaxed, refunds that never arrive after a sale, fines for vehicles sold months ago, and clamped cars outside the front door.

This guide covers the whole lifecycle: how much car tax costs and what the rate is based on, how to tax your car and what documents you need, whether you can tax a car without an MOT, without insurance or without the log book, what happens to the tax when a vehicle is bought or sold, how to declare a car off the road with a SORN, which vehicles are exempt, what the DVLA does when tax isn't paid — including clamping and how to appeal a fine — and how tax works for imported vehicles.

One rule up front: we deliberately don't quote rates, fine amounts or fees in pounds. They change every financial year, so always take the current figures from GOV.UK; everything structural below stays true year to year.

How much is my car tax? Rates, bands and the EV change

There is no single answer, because three separate systems run side by side. Which one applies to your vehicle depends entirely on when it was first registered:

Most cars on sale today sit in that last group, and it has three moving parts worth understanding before you buy anything:

The 2001 to 2017 group is why two cars of the same age can cost wildly different amounts to tax: they stay in their CO2 band for life, so an efficient small diesel can be very cheap while a thirsty petrol of the same year is not. One change caught a lot of owners out — since April 2025 the old band A no longer means nothing to pay, and cars that were previously zero-rated in that band moved into the first paying band.

Electric cars now pay VED. Since April 2025, battery electric vehicles are no longer exempt: new EVs pay a first-year rate and then the standard rate like everyone else, and existing EVs moved onto the standard rate. If you're buying a used EV that the seller describes as "free to tax", that information is out of date.

The expensive-car supplement catches used buyers out too, because it follows the vehicle, not the owner. A three-year-old car whose list price was above the threshold when new still carries the supplement until it turns six, even if you bought it second-hand for far less — and since April 2025 that includes electric cars registered from that date. Always ask what the list price was when new, not what the car is worth now.

The only reliable way to know what a specific car costs is to look it up by registration. The current amount is shown when you start the taxing process on GOV.UK, and the tax status and due date of any UK vehicle appear instantly in a free car check — useful before you commit to a car whose running costs you're still working out.

How to tax your car

Taxing a vehicle takes a couple of minutes, and there are three official channels — all of them run by, or on behalf of, the DVLA:

• Online at GOV.UK — the fastest route, available 24/7. The tax is active immediately; there's nothing physical to display, as paper tax discs were abolished in 2014.
• By phone — the DVLA's automated vehicle tax line, which works with the same reference numbers as the online service.
• At a Post Office that handles vehicle tax — slower, but the only channel that can deal with paper forms, so it's where you go if you're also applying for a replacement logbook.

You can pay annually, six-monthly, or monthly by Direct Debit. Direct Debit renews automatically, which is the single best protection against accidentally driving untaxed — though spreading payments costs slightly more over the year than paying in one go. If you sell the vehicle or declare it off road, the DVLA cancels the Direct Debit itself; you don't need to stop it at the bank.

Cover is live from the moment the payment goes through, so you can legally drive away straight after taxing online on your phone. Public-facing records can take a few working days to catch up, which is why a car you have just taxed may still show as untaxed on a lookup for a short while.

What documents do you need to tax a car?

Fewer than most people expect. You don't need a paper MOT certificate, proof of ownership, or — outside Northern Ireland — an insurance certificate. What you do need is a reference number from one of three documents:

1. Your V5C logbook — the 11-digit reference. This is the normal route if you want to tax a vehicle with a V5C already registered in your name. Our V5C logbook guide explains every part of the document and where the number sits.
2. The green new keeper slip (V5C/2) — the 12-digit reference. This is what you use when you've just bought the car and the full logbook hasn't arrived in your name yet.
3. The V11 reminder letter — the 16-digit reference on the renewal notice the DVLA posts before your current tax runs out.

Any one of the three is enough on its own — you don't need all of them, and you don't need the vehicle to be present. What you cannot do is tax a car using nothing but the registration number.

Can I tax a car without a log book (V5C)?

Yes, in most situations — the log book is only one of the accepted references. What matters is which document you actually hold:

• You've just bought the car: use the green V5C/2 slip. This also answers the common worry about whether you can tax a car while waiting for the log book — you can, and you should, because there's no grace period for new keepers.
• You're the existing keeper and the V11 arrived: the reminder letter's reference works online, by phone or at a Post Office, even if the V5C is missing.
• You have none of them: you need to apply for a replacement V5C using form V62, which is a Post Office job rather than an online one.

What you must not do is leave the car untaxed while the paperwork sorts itself out. A missing document is not a defence, and an untaxed vehicle generates an automatic penalty whether or not it moves. If it isn't going to be driven, declare a SORN instead — that's free and immediate.

How to tax a car with a V62

The V62 is the paper application for a vehicle registration certificate. It's the fallback when there is no V5C, no green slip and no reminder — typically a lost logbook, or a car bought where the paperwork never materialised.

1. Download and complete the V62 from GOV.UK, with the registration, make, model and VIN, and your details as keeper.
2. Take it to a Post Office that deals with vehicle tax. Online and phone services can't process a V62 — this is the one case where the counter is the only option. Take the green slip too if you have it.
3. Apply for the replacement and tax in the same visit where you can. An existing registered keeper whose V5C is lost or damaged can normally do both together. A new keeper with no green slip at all may have to wait for the new logbook to arrive before the vehicle can be taxed.
4. Expect a fee for the duplicate logbook in some circumstances but not others — it depends on whether you're the existing keeper or a new keeper who never received the document. GOV.UK sets out which applies and the current amount.

Can you tax a car without an MOT?

Normally no. If the vehicle is old enough to need an MOT, the DVLA checks the test record electronically when you tax it, and the application is refused if there's no valid pass in place — if you're unsure where a vehicle stands, check its MOT history before you start. There is no way round this, and no short grace period after the MOT expires.

There are two situations where a vehicle can be taxed without a current MOT:

• The vehicle is too new to need one — most cars don't need their first MOT until they're three years old.
• The vehicle is MOT exempt — for example a vehicle over 40 years old that hasn't been substantially changed. Exempt vehicles aren't tax-free by default: you make a declaration (form V112) confirming the exemption as part of taxing.

The practical order of events for a car that has fallen out of test is therefore: book the MOT, drive to the pre-booked appointment (the one journey the law allows for an untested vehicle, and it must still be insured), then tax the car the moment it passes. If the repairs are going to take weeks, declare a SORN in the meantime rather than letting an untaxed car sit on the street.

Can you tax a car without insurance?

In England, Scotland and Wales you aren't asked to produce an insurance certificate to complete the transaction — but that is not a loophole. Under continuous insurance enforcement it's an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle unless it has a SORN, so an insurance-free taxed car simply collects a different penalty letter instead. In Northern Ireland the position is explicit: you must have valid insurance in place and give the details when you tax.

In short: tax, MOT and insurance are three separate legal duties that are checked in different ways. Missing any one of them puts the vehicle at risk of a penalty, and driving without insurance is by far the most serious of the three.

Road tax when buying a used car

This is the point that trips up more buyers than any other: road tax does not transfer with the vehicle. Since October 2014, any remaining tax is cancelled automatically when the DVLA is told the keeper has changed. It doesn't matter what the advert said, what the seller promised, or that the car was "taxed until next year" — the moment the sale is registered, that tax is void and the seller gets the refund.

So taxing a second-hand car is always part of buying it — and before any money changes hands, it pays to run a vehicle check on the car's full history. In practice:

1. The seller notifies the DVLA of the sale and hands you the green V5C/2 slip.
2. Before you drive away, you tax the car online or by phone using the 12-digit reference on that green slip. It takes a few minutes on your phone, standing next to the car.
3. You confirm your insurance is active, and only then drive home.

Driving off untaxed — even just to get the car home — means driving an untaxed vehicle past ANPR cameras that check the register automatically. Before you even view the car, it's worth running a free car check on the registration: it shows the current tax status and expiry date alongside the MOT record, so you know exactly what you're walking into and can catch a seller whose paperwork story doesn't add up. Tax is one item on a longer list — our used car buying checklist covers the rest.

Who is responsible for paying the vehicle tax?

The registered keeper — the person named on the V5C — not the legal owner, and not whoever happens to be driving. That distinction matters for company cars, family cars registered to a parent, and any vehicle bought on finance, where the lender may own the car while you keep and tax it. It also means responsibility moves only when the DVLA records the change of keeper: until that happens, the tax bill and any penalty still belong to the seller.

Road tax when selling a car

As the seller, your job is to tell the DVLA the vehicle has changed keeper — online is instant and safest. Two things then happen automatically:

• Your remaining tax is refunded for every full calendar month left, with no need to claim it.
• Your liability ends. From the moment the keeper change is registered, tax, fines and penalties belong to the new keeper. Until you notify the DVLA, everything the car does is still legally yours — which is how people end up with fines for cars they sold months earlier.

What if the car is untaxed when you sell it? You can legally sell an untaxed vehicle — it's keeping or using it on the road that's the offence. Be upfront with the buyer, make sure the car isn't parked on a public road while untaxed (declare a SORN or keep it on private land), and notify the DVLA of the sale promptly. Any accrued penalties for the untaxed period remain yours, not the buyer's; the buyer simply taxes the car from scratch as every buyer must anyway.

Road tax refunds: how much you get back

A refund is triggered whenever the vehicle stops being your responsibility or stops being on the road — a sale or transfer, a SORN, scrapping, permanent export, or a change to an exempt tax class. The rules are the same in every case:

• Full calendar months only. Partial months are lost, so timing matters: selling or declaring a SORN on the 1st rather than the 30th makes a real difference to what comes back.
• It goes to the registered keeper at the name and address on the V5C — another reason to keep the logbook up to date before you sell.
• Monthly payers stop paying automatically. The DVLA cancels the Direct Debit as part of the same process.
• Chase it if it doesn't arrive. If nothing has landed after around six weeks, contact the DVLA — an old address on the V5C is the usual reason a refund goes missing.

Car tax and SORN: how to declare a car off the road

If a vehicle isn't going to be used — a project car, a second car sitting idle, a convertible hibernating for winter — you don't have to keep paying for it. You declare a SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification), which tells the DVLA the car is kept off the public road. There is no middle ground in UK law: a registered vehicle must be either taxed or SORN'd, and doing neither is an offence caught automatically by the DVLA's own database checks.

Once a SORN takes effect:

• No road tax is due, and any full remaining months are refunded.
• Insurance stops being compulsory, though laid-up cover is still sensible for anything valuable.
• No MOT is required while the vehicle stays off the road.
• The car must not be driven or parked on a public road — a driveway, garage or private land only. The street outside your house does not count, even if the car never moves.

How to declare a SORN

Declaring a SORN is free, whichever route you take — any site charging to "process" one is reselling a free government service. There are three ways to do it:

1. Online via the DVLA's SORN service on GOV.UK — the quickest option, using the 11-digit V5C reference or the 16-digit number on the V11 reminder.
2. By phone, with the registration and the same V5C or V11 reference to hand.
3. By post using form V890 — the only route that lets you apply in advance for a SORN starting on the first day of a future month.

Which reference you use changes when the SORN starts, and that changes the refund. The V5C reference takes effect immediately; the V11 reminder reference starts the SORN on the first day of the following month. Keep the confirmation the DVLA sends — it's the evidence that settles any later dispute.

How long does a SORN last?

Indefinitely. A SORN has no expiry date and nothing to renew each year: it stays in force until the vehicle is taxed again, sold, scrapped or permanently exported. It also does not transfer with the car — if you buy a vehicle that's on SORN, the seller's declaration ends and you must immediately either tax it or make a SORN declaration of your own.

How to tax a car that is SORN

You simply tax it — there is no cancellation form, and the SORN ends automatically the moment the tax is issued. Before the car touches a public road it needs a valid MOT (if it's old enough to require one), insurance in force, and the tax itself. Cars that have stood for months often fail on perishables such as tyres, brakes and corroded lines, so book the test before you plan the first drive. Our SORN guide walks through declaring one, the refund and putting the car back on the road in more detail.

Exemptions: which vehicles are free to tax

Several categories pay nothing, or pay a reduced rate:

• Historic vehicles — vehicles over 40 years old qualify for exemption, applied from the April after the vehicle reaches that age. It isn't automatic: you apply to have the vehicle's tax class changed, and you must still renew the (free) tax each year.
• Disability exemption — vehicles registered to, or used by, people receiving qualifying mobility benefits can be taxed free of charge, and some benefit rates give a partial reduction instead of full exemption. The exemption applies to one vehicle at a time, and the qualifying benefits and claiming process are set out on GOV.UK.
• Mobility vehicles and powered wheelchairs that meet the DVLA's definition.
• Vehicles used by organisations providing transport for disabled people.
• Agricultural, horticultural and forestry machines, mowing machines and steam vehicles.

Electric cars used to head this list and no longer do — the EV exemption ended in April 2025. A SORN isn't an exemption either: it's a declaration that the vehicle isn't on the road at all, covered in the section above.

An exempt vehicle still has to be "taxed" every year — the amount is simply nil. Skipping the renewal on a historic or disability-exempt vehicle triggers the same enforcement as an unpaid tax bill on any other car.

If you don't pay: DVLA fines, clamping and appeals

Enforcement is automated. The DVLA compares its tax register against the vehicle record continuously and uses ANPR cameras on the road, so an untaxed vehicle doesn't need to be stopped by a police officer to be caught. The sequence typically runs: a late licensing penalty letter, then an escalating fine or out-of-court settlement, then court action, clamping or impounding for vehicles found on the road. Current penalty amounts are published on GOV.UK.

How to pay a DVLA fine

The penalty letter carries a reference number and the payment routes open to you — normally online, by phone or by post. Two things are worth knowing before you pay:

• Paying promptly usually costs less. Late licensing penalties are typically reduced if settled within the window stated on the notice, and rise sharply if ignored.
• Paying the fine doesn't fix the underlying problem. Tax the vehicle or declare a SORN at the same time, otherwise the offence continues and a second penalty follows.

What to do if your car is clamped for no tax

If you find a DVLA clamp (usually applied by an enforcement contractor) on your vehicle:

1. Read the notice left on the vehicle. It confirms who clamped it, why, and the number to call. Don't attempt to remove a clamp — that's a criminal offence.
2. Act fast. A clamped vehicle is normally moved to a pound if it isn't released within roughly 24 hours, and once impounded the release fee rises and daily storage charges start stacking up. The notice states the exact deadlines that apply.
3. Pay the release fee and tax the vehicle — release requires both. If you can't or don't want to tax it immediately, the alternatives are declaring a SORN (the vehicle must then be kept off the public road) or paying a refundable surety deposit that buys you a short window to sort the tax out. All the current fees are on GOV.UK.
4. Keep every receipt and confirmation email. If anything was clamped in error, this is your evidence.

How to appeal a DVLA fine you believe is wrong

Genuine grounds for appeal exist: you'd already sold the vehicle and notified the DVLA, the tax or SORN was actually in place, the reminder went to an old address through no fault of yours, or the vehicle details on the notice are simply wrong. The process:

1. Read the notice carefully — identify the exact offence alleged, the date, and the deadline for responding. Missing the deadline escalates the case even if you're right.
2. Gather evidence: tax or SORN confirmation emails, the DVLA's acknowledgement of a keeper change, proof of posting for any paper V5C section, bank statements showing the Direct Debit, photos, and any prior correspondence.
3. Respond in writing to the address or online channel on the notice, stating the facts plainly and enclosing copies (never originals) of your evidence. Keep a copy of everything you send.
4. Escalate if refused. Ask for the decision to be reviewed, and if the case proceeds to court and you have solid evidence, take advice from a motoring solicitor or Citizens Advice before the hearing rather than paying to make it go away.

Bear in mind that a DVLA penalty is not a parking ticket: there's no independent adjudicator sitting between you and the agency, so you challenge the DVLA directly and, if it refuses and prosecutes, the argument is heard in court. That makes the paper trail everything — notify keeper changes online for the instant confirmation, keep every tax and SORN email, and keep your address current on the V5C.

Taxing an imported car

An imported vehicle can't be taxed until it legally exists in the UK system. At a high level the sequence is:

1. Tell HMRC the vehicle has arrived using the NOVA scheme (Notification of Vehicle Arrivals), normally within 14 days of import, and pay any VAT or duty HMRC assesses.
2. Get the vehicle approved and tested where required — vehicles without existing UK/European type approval may need an Individual Vehicle Approval inspection, and anything over three years old needs an MOT.
3. Register it with the DVLA, which issues a UK registration number and a V5C in your name.
4. Tax it — only once registered can the vehicle be taxed, using the new V5C, and insured against its UK registration.

The VED band an import lands in depends on its emissions documentation and date of first registration (which for imports can mean the date it was first registered anywhere, not just in the UK), so two identical-looking cars can be taxed quite differently. GOV.UK's import guidance walks through each step with the current fees and forms.

Road tax FAQ

Can I drive a car home untaxed if I've just bought it?

No. There's no grace period — the car must be taxed before you drive it, which is why you tax it on the spot using the green V5C/2 slip. The only exception is driving directly to a pre-booked MOT test.

Is road tax transferred when I buy a used car?

No. Since October 2014 the remaining tax is cancelled as soon as the DVLA records the change of keeper, and the seller receives the refund. Every buyer taxes the vehicle from scratch, whatever the advert claimed.

How do I check if a car is taxed?

Run a free car check on the registration: you'll see whether the vehicle is currently taxed or SORN'd, when the tax runs out, and its full MOT history — all from official DVLA and DVSA records.

Do electric cars pay road tax?

Yes. The EV exemption ended in April 2025 — electric cars now pay a first-year rate when new and the standard rate thereafter, and EVs registered from that date above the list-price threshold also attract the expensive-car supplement.

Do I get a refund when I sell my car?

Yes, automatically. Once the DVLA processes the keeper change, any full remaining months of tax are refunded to the registered keeper — you don't need to claim. Partial months aren't refunded.

Do you pay VAT on road tax?

No. VED is a duty collected by the DVLA, not a supply of goods or services, so it sits outside the scope of VAT and there is no VAT element to reclaim. The exception people run into is leasing or hire: when a company builds the tax into what it charges you for the vehicle, VAT applies to that overall charge because you're paying for the leasing service, not the duty itself.

What happens if my car is clamped for no tax?

Act within hours, not days: clamped vehicles are normally impounded if they aren't released in about 24 hours, after which fees rise and storage charges accrue. Release needs the fee paid plus the vehicle taxed, SORN'd or covered by a refundable surety deposit. Never cut off a clamp — that's a criminal offence.