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Car tax calculator

Most cars registered from 1 April 2017 pay £200 a year in car tax for 2026/27, or £640 in years two to six for a petrol, diesel or hybrid car with a list price over £40,000. Enter a registration to work out the Vehicle Excise Duty on any UK car, or fill in its details. Free, with no account.

How is car tax worked out in the UK?

UK car tax depends on when the car was first registered, because that decides which of three rate systems applies to it.

How much is car tax on a car registered from April 2017?

A car first registered from 1 April 2017 pays a first-year rate set by its CO₂, then £200 a year from its second tax payment. The first-year rate runs from £10 for a zero-emission car to £5,690 for the dirtiest, and is normally baked into the on-the-road price. The standard rate is the same for petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric cars.

The sting in the tail is the expensive car supplement. A list price over £40,000 when new, or over £50,000 for an electric car registered from 1 April 2025, adds £440 a year in years two to six.

First-year rates, cars registered from April 2017 (2026/27)
CO₂ (g/km)	Petrol · RDE2 diesel · hybrid · electric	Other diesel
0	£10	£10
1–50	£115	£135
51–75	£135	£280
76–90	£280	£365
91–100	£365	£405
101–110	£405	£455
111–130	£455	£560
131–150	£560	£1,410
151–170	£1,410	£2,270
171–190	£2,270	£3,420
191–225	£3,420	£4,850
226–255	£4,850	£5,690
Over 255	£5,690	£5,690

How much is car tax on a car registered between March 2001 and March 2017?

A car first registered from 1 March 2001 to 31 March 2017 pays £20 to £790 a year, set by its CO₂ band from A to M. The band comes from the car's official CO₂ figure, is fixed for life, and a car over 225 g/km registered before 23 March 2006 stays in band K.

It's the era of the famously cheap-to-tax diesel, while a thirsty performance car in band M pays the most.

CO₂ bands, cars registered March 2001 – March 2017 (2026/27)
Band	CO₂ (g/km)	12-month rate
Band A	Up to 100 g/km	£20
Band B	101 to 110 g/km	£20
Band C	111 to 120 g/km	£35
Band D	121 to 130 g/km	£170
Band E	131 to 140 g/km	£200
Band F	141 to 150 g/km	£225
Band G	151 to 165 g/km	£275
Band H	166 to 175 g/km	£325
Band I	176 to 185 g/km	£360
Band J	186 to 200 g/km	£410
Band K	201 to 225 g/km	£445
Band L	226 to 255 g/km	£760
Band M	Over 255 g/km	£790

How much is car tax on a car registered before March 2001?

A car first registered before 1 March 2001 pays £230 a year with an engine of up to 1549cc (roughly 1.5 litres), or £375 with a bigger engine. It's the simplest of the three systems, and CO₂ doesn't come into it at all. A car built before 1 January 1986 can move into the historic tax class and pay nothing from 1 April 2026, but you have to apply.

These are the standard 12-month figures for the 2026/27 tax year (rates from 1 April 2026). Paying by monthly Direct Debit costs 5% more over the year, and paying six months at a time costs 10% more, or 5% by Direct Debit. Motorhomes, vans and cars with an incomplete CO₂ record can differ, so check the exact figure for your vehicle on gov.uk.

Figures last checked against the official source on 24 September 2026. Check the source yourself.

Why check the car tax before you buy a used car?

Car tax on two similar used cars can differ by hundreds of pounds a year, and most adverts don't say which band a car is in. Two cars that look identical on a forecourt can be a £20-a-year band B hatchback and a £760-a-year band L V6, or a tidy estate that quietly carries the expensive car supplement because the first owner ticked a few option boxes and pushed the list price past £40,000.

The number that decides it all isn't something you can eyeball. For a 2001-to-2017 car it's the CO₂ figure, which is on the V5C logbook and the DVLA record, and a vehicle report reads it back with the tax band and rates, alongside the MOT history and mileage so you're weighing up the whole car at once. For a newer car it's the original list price, which only the first owner's paperwork or the maker's price list will show. Whether a car is taxed right now is free to check on GOV.UK. If you'd like the detail behind the numbers, our guide to car tax walks through every quirk, including the £40,000 trap and why tax never comes with the car, and the electric car road tax guide sets out what an EV pays by registration date.

And if you just want a nudge before your own tax runs out, our free MOT reminder service keeps an eye on the MOT side of the same paperwork: the two things that quietly lapse and cost you a fine. Driving into a city? Our free ULEZ and Clean Air Zone checker tells you whether that same car faces a daily emissions charge on top. Choosing a car through work rather than buying it? That's a different tax altogether; our company car tax calculator works out the Benefit-in-Kind instead.

Car tax calculator: common questions

How much is car tax in the UK for 2026/27?

For any car registered on or after April 2017, the standard rate from the second year onward is £200 a year, whatever the fuel: petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric. Cars that cost over £40,000 new pay an extra £440 a year for five years on top. Older cars are taxed on their CO₂ band or, before 2001, on engine size.

How can I find out how much my car tax is?

Enter the registration in our car tax calculator, which reads the first-use date, fuel and engine size from the car's free DVSA MOT record. A car registered between March 2001 and March 2017 is taxed on its CO₂ figure, which that record doesn't hold, so type it in from section V.7 of the V5C logbook. GOV.UK's vehicle enquiry service also shows a car's current tax rates if you have the 11-digit reference number from its V5C.

What is the £40,000 car tax rule?

If a car's list price when new was over £40,000 (the sticker price including options, not what the first owner actually paid), it carries the expensive car supplement of £440 a year. That runs for five years from the second licence, so years two to six cost £640 a year before dropping back to the standard rate. Electric cars get a higher £50,000 threshold.

Do electric cars pay road tax now?

Yes. The exemption ended in April 2025. A new electric car pays a token £10 in its first year, then the same £200 standard rate as everything else. Pricier EVs over £50,000 list price also pick up the expensive car supplement, but only if they were first registered on or after 1 April 2025. An older EV pays the ordinary rate for its age and nothing more, whatever it cost new: the standard rate if registered from April 2017, or band A (£20) if older.

Where do I find my car's CO₂ figure?

It's printed on the V5C logbook (the registration document) in section V.7, and it's on the DVLA record too. Our £5.00 report pulls it up alongside the tax band, MOT history and mileage so you can see the running cost before you buy.

Does car tax transfer when I buy a used car?

No. Since 2014 tax never transfers with the vehicle. The seller gets a refund of their remaining full months and the car becomes untaxed the moment it changes hands, so you have to tax it yourself before you drive it away.