Enter your registration and we'll show the exact annual road tax for your car, not a generic estimate for the model. Free preview, full report from £4.99.
✓The exact annual road tax (VED) for your car
✓First-year 'showroom' rate
✓CO₂ emissions in g/km and Euro status
✓Combined MPG, so you see the full running cost
✓Whether the £40,000 list-price surcharge applies
✓Plus MOT history, mileage, spec and market valuation
UK road tax runs on three different systems, and which one your car falls under is decided by its first registration date. Cars registered from 1 April 2017 onwards mostly pay a single flat standard rate whatever their emissions, with an extra surcharge on the first several renewals if the list price when new was over £40,000. Cars registered between March 2001 and March 2017 are taxed on CO₂ bands, so a genuinely low emission car from that era can cost very little to tax. Cars registered before March 2001 are taxed purely on engine size, with one rate under 1549cc and a higher one above it.
Two cars that look identical on a forecourt often sit in different tax brackets. A different engine, a registration a few weeks either side of a rule change, or an options list that pushed the original price past £40,000 all change what you pay. The only figure that matters is the one attached to your specific vehicle record, which is why the check works from your registration rather than from the make and model.
Electric cars are no longer exempt. They moved into the standard road tax system in April 2025, and more expensive electric cars can attract the same list price surcharge as petrol and diesel models. Hybrids sit in the normal system too. If you have been assuming your car is still free to tax, the check tells you exactly where it stands now.
The current annual rate for your car and the first year rate, its CO₂ figure and Euro emissions status, and the combined MPG, so you can weigh tax against fuel rather than looking at one number in isolation. It comes with the full vehicle report: photo, complete specification, MOT history with advisories, the mileage timeline and a market valuation, from £4.99.
It depends on your car's first registration date, its CO₂ emissions and, for newer cars, its original list price. Enter your registration and the report shows the exact annual rate for your vehicle rather than a figure for the model in general.
The registration is all you need. We find the vehicle record from the plate and return the current annual road tax, the first year rate and the emissions data behind them.
Usually the registration date, the engine, or the original list price. A car first registered after 1 April 2017 with a list price over £40,000 pays a surcharge on top of the standard rate for several years, even if it is worth far less now.
We focus on what the tax costs rather than live taxed or SORN status, which changes daily. For current tax status the DVLA's own vehicle enquiry service is the definitive source.
Very few cars are now. Some pre-2017 cars in the lowest CO₂ bands still pay nothing, and vehicles over 40 years old can qualify for historic vehicle status. Electric cars lost their exemption in April 2025. The report shows what your car is actually liable for.