UK road tax (VED) guides — 2026/27 rates, bands, EV tax changes, expensive car supplement, and pay-per-mile (eVED).
Check any UK car before you buy — free.
Car tax (2026/27) for cars registered 1 March 2001 to 31 March 2017: band A £20 a year, band M £790. Find your band from the CO2 figure, plus pre-2001 rates.
The Budget on 28 October 2026 kept the 5p fuel duty cut to 1 July 2027, made the 55p mileage rate permanent and confirmed pay-per-mile for EVs from 2028.
Electric cars pay £200 a year road tax in 2026/27, £10 in year one if new, plus £440 if listed over £50,000. The 3p-per-mile charge starts 1 April 2028.
The expensive car supplement adds £440 a year (2026/27) to road tax for five years on cars listed over £40,000 new, or £50,000 if electric. Who pays it.
Fuel duty is 52.95p on every litre of petrol and diesel, unchanged since March 2022. What the tax is, how it reaches the pump, and where to read what changes.
How to check any car's tax and SORN status on GOV.UK, why a used car has no tax the moment you buy it, and the DVLA penalties for an untaxed car in 2026.
How to declare a car off the road (SORN): what you need, when it starts, the refund, the rules while it is off and how to tax it again. GOV.UK rules, 2026.
Vehicle Excise Duty is the one running cost every keeper pays whether the car moves or not, and the rules around it are stricter than most people think. A car registered with DVLA must be taxed or declared off the road at all times; there is no gap in between. The rate depends on when the car was first registered and, for newer cars, on its list price and fuel type, and it changes most Aprils.
The guides in this section explain the rules as GOV.UK publishes them: how to take a car off the road with a SORN and what you get back, what you need to tax a car you have just bought, why the MOT has to be valid first, and how the rates are banded. Every figure is dated and linked to the official page, because the number that was right last spring is often wrong this one.
Tax status is also one of the first things to check on a car you are thinking of buying. A long spell untaxed or off the road is not a fault in itself, but it is a question to ask the seller. Our free car check shows the DVLA tax and MOT record for any UK registration alongside its full MOT history.
Check any UK car before you buy — free.