Car Tax Calculator 2026/27 - Work Out UK Road Tax (VED)

When was the car first registered?

April 2017 or newer Mar 2001 – Mar 2017 Before Mar 2001

Fuel type

Which tax are you working out?

Used car (standard rate) Brand-new (first year)

CO₂ emissions (g/km) Only needed for a brand-new car's first year; it's in section D.2 of the V5C.

List price was over the expensive-car threshold when new £40,000 for petrol, diesel and hybrid; £50,000 for electric. It's the list price with options, not what was paid.

How UK car tax is worked out

Three different systems run side by side. Which one applies comes down to a single thing: when the car was first registered.

Cars registered from April 2017

These pay a one-off first-year rate based on CO₂ (anything from £10 for a clean car to £5,690 for the dirtiest), which is normally baked into the on-the-road price. From the second year almost everything settles onto the flat standard rate of £200 a year, petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric alike. The sting in the tail is the expensive-car supplement: list price over £40,000 when new (£50,000 for electric) 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

Cars registered March 2001 to March 2017

These are taxed for life on their official CO₂ figure, in thirteen bands from A to M. It's the era of the famously cheap-to-tax diesel (plenty of cars here sit in the lowest bands), while a thirsty performance car in band M pays £790 a year. The band is fixed when the car is built and never moves.

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

Cars registered before March 2001

The oldest system is the simplest: two flat rates split on engine size. Not over 1549cc (roughly 1.5 litres) pays £230 a year; anything larger pays £375. CO₂ doesn't come into it at all.

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

Why the tax on a used car is worth checking first

Car tax rarely makes or breaks a purchase, but it's the kind of running cost that's easy to get wrong by hundreds of pounds a year, and it's completely invisible in most adverts. 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 (the CO₂ figure for a 2001-to-2017 car, or the original list price for a newer one) isn't something you can eyeball. It's on the V5C logbook and on the DVLA record, which is exactly what a full vehicle check reads back to you: the tax band, whether it's taxed right now, and when it runs out, sitting alongside the MOT history and mileage so you're weighing up the whole car at once. 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 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.

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.

Where do I find my car's CO₂ figure?

It's printed on the V5C logbook (the registration document) in section D.2, and it's on the DVLA record too. Our £500 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.