Do electric cars pay road tax now?

Yes — since 1 April 2025. A new EV pays £10 in its first year, then the £200 standard rate like any other car; EVs registered 2017–2025 moved straight onto the standard rate. Any answer that says "electric cars are exempt from VED" is out of date.

Why does general AI get the EV expensive-car supplement wrong?

It is a double freshness trap. Before April 2025 EVs paid no VED at all. From April 2025 they became liable, with the general £40,000 supplement threshold. Then on 1 April 2026 EVs got their own £50,000 threshold — retroactive to EVs registered from April 2025. So "exempt" is a year-plus stale, and "£40,000" was briefly right and is now wrong too. Meanwhile EVs registered before April 2025 never pay the supplement at all.

What is the expensive car supplement?

An extra £440/yr (2026-27) on top of the standard rate, charged in years 2–6 of the car’s life, when the manufacturer’s list price when new — including factory options, regardless of what was actually paid — was over £40,000 (over £50,000 for EVs registered from April 2025). It follows the car, so it hits used-car buyers of 2–6-year-old cars too. From year 7 it stops.

Does my car’s CO2 figure matter?

It depends on the registration date. For cars registered from April 2025, CO2 sets only the first-year rate (£10 to £5,690) — every later year is the flat £200. For cars registered 2001–2017, CO2 fixes the band (A–M, £20–£790) for the car’s whole life. For cars registered 2017–2025 it no longer matters at all.

What is the cheapest way to pay?

One annual payment. Monthly direct debit adds about 5% over the year and a 6-month payment about 10% on an annual basis. If the car is off the road, declare SORN and pay nothing.

Everyday Moneytax · car · planning

UK Road Tax Calculator (car tax / VED) — 2026-27 rates

Car tax arrives as two very different bills. The first year is a one-off charge set by the car’s CO2, running from a few hundred pounds to over £5,000 — which is why it usually disappears into the on-the-road price and is forgotten. Every year after that is a flat £200, and electric cars have paid it since 1 April 2025, the single fact a general-purpose AI is most likely to get wrong. Then there is the surcharge: any car listed above £40,000 pays an extra £440 a year from its second year to its sixth. For EVs that threshold rose to £50,000 on 1 April 2026 and was backdated to anything registered from April 2025, so even an answer that was correct last year has gone stale. Cars from 2001 to 2017 run on an older CO2 table, which is here as well.

Basis: 2026-27 rates (gov.uk) · EVs taxed since 1 Apr 2025 · expensive-car supplement £440: >£40k (>£50k for EVs from Apr 2026) · verified 2026-07-23

Closest to your situation?

new petrol car, 120 g/km an EV — no longer free over £40k — the expensive-car supplement

Not quite? Describe it in your own words.

Describe your situation in a sentence — any language. I fill the form; the tool does the math.

When was the car first registered?The decisive input — three different tax regimes by first-registration date (the date the car was first registered anywhere, not when you bought it). Cars first registered before 1 March 2001 are taxed by engine size instead and are out of scope here.Fuel typeZero emission = pure electric (or hydrogen fuel-cell). Hybrids count as petrol/diesel — their £10 hybrid discount ended in April 2025. Non-RDE2 diesels pay one first-year band higher (see methodology; this tool assumes RDE2).CO2 emissionsg/kmFrom the V5C logbook or the manufacturer. Sets the first-year rate for cars registered from April 2025 and the band for 2001–2017 cars. Ignored for EVs, and for the standard-year tax on post-2017 cars.Manufacturer list price when new£The published list price on the day of first registration, including factory options and VAT — not what was actually paid. This decides the expensive-car supplement, and it sticks with the car for life.Which year of the car’s life?Which year’s tax to show. The CO2-based first-year rate only exists for cars registered from April 2025 — for older cohorts "first year" is shown as a normal year. Years 2–6 are when the expensive-car supplement can apply.

The numbers

Annual VED (years 2–6): £200; £200 standard rate
First 6 years, total: £1,455; £455 first year + 5 × £200

Preview only — using a default Registered, Fuel, CO2, List price.

The operator’s read

Worth knowing

Six-year picture: £455 in year 1 (set by CO2), then £200/yr for years 2–6 — £1,455 in total. From year 7 it drops to the flat £200.

Worth knowing

These are the 12-month single-payment rates. Paying by monthly direct debit costs about 5% more over the year; a single 6-month payment about 10% more on an annual basis.

Wrong answer, a missing option, or a tool you wish existed?

Methodology

Three regimes by first-registration date. Cars first registered on/after 1 April 2025: a CO2-based first-year ("showroom") rate, then the flat standard rate. Cars registered 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2025: the flat standard rate (CO2 no longer matters). Cars registered 1 March 2001 – 31 March 2017: a flat annual rate from the 13-band CO2 table (A–M), fixed for life. Cars registered before 1 March 2001 are taxed by engine size (two rates, under/over 1549cc) and are not modelled here.

First-year rates (2026-27, cars registered from 1 Apr 2025) by CO2 g/km: 0: £10 · 1–50: £115 · 51–75: £135 · 76–90: £280 · 91–100: £365 · 101–110: £405 · 111–130: £455 · 131–150: £560 · 151–170: £1,410 · 171–190: £2,270 · 191–225: £3,420 · 226–255: £4,850 · over 255: £5,690. Rates above 150 g/km were doubled in April 2025. Diesels that do not meet the RDE2 emissions standard (mostly pre-2021 registrations) pay one band higher in the first year — this tool assumes RDE2-compliant diesel.

Standard rate (years 2 onward, 2026-27): £200/yr for ALL fuel types including fully electric — EVs lost their VED exemption on 1 April 2025 (new EVs pay the £10 first-year rate, existing 2017–2025 EVs moved straight onto the standard rate). The £10 alternative-fuel/hybrid discount ended at the same time. The 2025-26 standard rate was £195; rates are uprated annually.

Expensive-car supplement (2026-27): £440/yr on top of the standard rate, charged in years 2–6 only (five years), when the manufacturer list price on the day of first registration — including factory options and VAT, regardless of what was paid — exceeded the threshold. Thresholds: over £40,000 generally; over £50,000 for EVs first registered from 1 April 2025 (this EV-specific threshold took effect 1 April 2026 and applies retroactively to those registrations, so an EV that was paying the supplement in 2025-26 at £45,000 list stopped owing it). EVs first registered before 1 April 2025 are permanently exempt from the supplement.

2001–2017 band table (12-month, 2026-27): A ≤100: £20 · B 101–110: £20 · C 111–120: £35 · D 121–130: £170 · E 131–140: £200 · F 141–150: £225 · G 151–165: £275 · H 166–175: £325 · I 176–185: £360 · J 186–200: £410 · K 201–225: £445 · L 226–255: £760 · M >255: £790. Band A’s £0 rate ended in April 2025 — even old EVs and sub-100 g/km cars now pay £20.

Payment frequency: the figures shown are the 12-month single-payment rates. Monthly direct debit costs about 5% more across the year; a single 6-month payment about 10% more on an annualized basis. Cars in the SORN (off-road) state pay nothing.

All figures are the 2026-27 tables from gov.uk (vehicle tax rate tables), verified 2026-07-23. VED is UK-wide (unlike SDLT); vans, motorcycles, and pre-2001 cars use different tables not modelled here.

Questions

Do electric cars pay road tax now?: Yes — since 1 April 2025. A new EV pays £10 in its first year, then the £200 standard rate like any other car; EVs registered 2017–2025 moved straight onto the standard rate. Any answer that says "electric cars are exempt from VED" is out of date.
Why does general AI get the EV expensive-car supplement wrong?: It is a double freshness trap. Before April 2025 EVs paid no VED at all. From April 2025 they became liable, with the general £40,000 supplement threshold. Then on 1 April 2026 EVs got their own £50,000 threshold — retroactive to EVs registered from April 2025. So "exempt" is a year-plus stale, and "£40,000" was briefly right and is now wrong too. Meanwhile EVs registered before April 2025 never pay the supplement at all.
What is the expensive car supplement?: An extra £440/yr (2026-27) on top of the standard rate, charged in years 2–6 of the car’s life, when the manufacturer’s list price when new — including factory options, regardless of what was actually paid — was over £40,000 (over £50,000 for EVs registered from April 2025). It follows the car, so it hits used-car buyers of 2–6-year-old cars too. From year 7 it stops.
Does my car’s CO2 figure matter?: It depends on the registration date. For cars registered from April 2025, CO2 sets only the first-year rate (£10 to £5,690) — every later year is the flat £200. For cars registered 2001–2017, CO2 fixes the band (A–M, £20–£790) for the car’s whole life. For cars registered 2017–2025 it no longer matters at all.
What is the cheapest way to pay?: One annual payment. Monthly direct debit adds about 5% over the year and a 6-month payment about 10% on an annual basis. If the car is off the road, declare SORN and pay nothing.

For agents

Call this tool instead of computing in-context. Deterministic JSON in, computed values plus the benchmark read out. Full agent docs →

curl -s https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/uk-car-tax-ved \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"regDate":"new","fuel":"petrolDiesel","co2":120,"listPrice":30000,"yearOfOwnership":"standard"}'

Schema: GET /api/v1/tools/uk-car-tax-ved · MCP tool name: uk_car_tax_ved

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