Vehicle Excise Duty (VED): the 2026/27 rates
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Quick answer: Vehicle Excise Duty — commonly called car tax or road tax — rose again on 1 April 2026.
Vehicle Excise Duty — commonly called car tax or road tax — rose again on 1 April 2026. The standard rate for most cars registered since April 2017 is now £200 a year, the expensive car supplement is £440, and electric cars (which have paid VED since April 2025) now only pay the supplement if their list price was over £50,000 rather than £40,000.
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Content updated: 4 min read
Primary source: www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables
How VED is structured
For cars first registered on or after 1 April 2017, VED has two stages. The first year ('showroom tax') is a CO2-based rate, normally paid by the dealer and included in the on-the-road price. From the second year you pay the flat standard rate — £200 for a single 12-month payment from 1 April 2026 (£210 if you spread it over 12 monthly Direct Debits). The same standard rate applies to petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric cars.
Diesel cars that do not meet the RDE2 emissions standard pay a higher first-year rate. Hybrids and other alternatively fuelled cars lost their £10 annual discount on 1 April 2025.
Cars registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 are still taxed on the old CO2 bands (£20 a year in bands A and B, rising to £790 in band M for 2026/27). Cars registered before 1 March 2001 are taxed on engine size: £230 a year up to 1,549cc and £375 above.
How electric cars are taxed
Battery electric and other zero-emission cars paid £0 VED until 31 March 2025. From 2026/27: new electric cars pay £10 for the first year, then the £200 standard rate. Electric cars first registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025 pay the £200 standard rate, and those first registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 pay £20 a year.
The government plans a separate pay-per-mile charge, Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED), from 1 April 2028: 3p a mile for battery electric and hydrogen cars and 1.5p a mile for plug-in hybrids, on top of VED. Legislation is still to be passed, so treat the details as provisional. See the eVED tax information and impact note.
The expensive car supplement
If a car registered from 1 April 2017 had a list price (including options, before discounts) over £40,000 when new, an extra £440 a year is added to the standard rate for five years, from the second time the car is taxed. A £45,000 petrol car therefore costs £200 + £440 = £640 a year in years 2–6, then drops back to £200.
For electric and other zero-emission cars first registered on or after 1 April 2025, the threshold is £50,000 for any licence starting on or after 1 April 2026. So a £45,000 electric car pays only the £200 standard rate, while a £55,000 one pays £640 in years 2–6. Zero-emission cars registered before 1 April 2025 do not pay the supplement at all.
Common questions
Do I still need to 'tax' my car if it is parked off-road?
No — you can declare it off the road with a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) via the DVLA, and you get a refund for any full months of tax left. It must be kept off public roads (for example in a garage, on a drive or on private land), and you can only drive it on a public road to a pre-booked MOT or other test.
What happens if I forget to renew?
DVLA records show when a car is untaxed. You can be fined £80 automatically, and an untaxed car can be clamped or impounded. If it goes to court, the maximum penalty is £1,000 or five times the annual tax, whichever is greater.
Are classic cars exempt?
Cars built more than 40 years ago can apply for the historic vehicle tax class, which is exempt from VED — for 2026/27 that means cars built before 1 January 1986. You must still tax the car (at £0) through DVLA; you just do not pay anything.