Are you about to be hit by higher car tax? Here’s a quick way to check

On 1 April 2025, the DVLA introduced a rise in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) that now applies to a wide range of vehicles — including petrol, diesel, hybrid, and even electric cars — and how much you pay depends on your car’s emissions and when it was first registered.

If your car was registered between 2001 and 2017, your VED is now calculated based on your car’s total CO2 emissions. So, the more your car emits, the more you’ll pay — on a sliding scale.

These changes could come as a “major financial shock” to millions of drivers, especially those with older, low-emission cars that previously benefitted from lower rates.

With the average driver already spending over £500 annually on fuel duty (including VAT), this rise could mean a combined tax increase of up to 34%.

For newer cars registered after 2017, VED is charged at a flat standard rate of £195 that you have to pay from the second year and thereafter of the car’s life. Meanwhile, vehicles registered between 1985 and 2001 also face VED increases of up to £20 based on engine size.

So, how do you check if you’ve been affected?

You can easily check how much DVLA car tax you owe using an online number plate checker. The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) website has a service where you can check tax rates for new unregistered cars and one where you can search for fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, and tax bands for new and used cars.

Our complete car tax guide gives you a full breakdown of updated tax bands.

Carwow also has a car tax check tool you can use for free. Just simply type in the number plate of the vehicle you’re curious about, and find out if it currently has road tax and when it’s next due. You can check the tax status of any car, motorbike or van using our free car tax check tool below.

You can also scroll down to view the car’s MOT history, get information on its mileage at each MOT, details relating to any test failures, and up-to-date vehicle recall information too.

Here’s a reminder of all the car tax changes

New standard road tax rate

The annual standard road tax, which you will have to pay annually from the second year onwards, has risen from £190 to £195. This applies to all cars first registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025.

Newly introduced taxes for EVs

Electric car owners no longer enjoy a road tax exemption — they are now subject to a £10 ‘showroom tax’ in their first year, and have to pay the stand annual rate from year two. Any EVs registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025 will also have to pay the new standard rate of £195 annually from the second year onwards. However, those registered before 31 March 2017 will enjoy a lower annual rate of £20.

Electric vans haven’t escaped the changes either. They’ll now be taxed at an annual rate of £355, the same as petrol and diesel light goods vehicles.

Furthermore, any EVs with a list price over £40,000 will incur an extra £425 per year between the second and sixth years of ownership, a levy known as the ‘expensive car supplement’.

Doubling first-year rates for higher-polluting new cars

To deter people from buying high-polluting vehicles, first-year road tax for cars emitting 76g/km of CO2 or more has doubled. The highest band (255g/km+) now incurs a £5,490 charge, affecting 59 models from 24 manufacturers, including the Bentley Continental W12, Porsche 911 Turbo, and Land Rover Defender V8.

Tax hikes for low-emission vehicles

First-year road tax for low-emission vehicles has increased: cars emitting 1–50g/km now pay £110 (up from £0-£10), while those emitting 51-75g/km pay £135 (up from £20-£30).

But it’s not all doom and gloom…

There are still some exemptions to car tax, including vehicles with a Statutory Off-road Notification (SORN) and historic vehicles, typically those over 40 years old.

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