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What The Road Tax Calculator Works Out
- First-year rate (cars registered from April 2017): the "showroom tax" looked up from the official CO2 band table, from GBP 10 for zero-emission cars to GBP 5,690 above 255g/km. Diesels that do not meet the RDE2 standard are charged one band higher. Only paid once, by whoever buys the car new.
- Annual rate: for post-2017 cars this is the flat standard rate (GBP 200) from year two onwards. Cars registered between March 2001 and March 2017 are looked up in the old CO2 bands A to M (GBP 20 to GBP 790; many small cars pay GBP 20 to GBP 35). Cars registered before March 2001 are charged by engine size: GBP 230 up to 1549cc, GBP 375 above.
- Expensive car supplement: an extra GBP 440 a year in years two to six for post-2017 cars with a list price above GBP 40,000 (GBP 50,000 for fully electric cars from April 2026). Across the five years that is GBP 2,200, so a GBP 39,000 car is materially cheaper to tax than a GBP 41,000 one.
- How you pay (advanced): annual payment is the base price. Six-monthly and monthly Direct Debit both add a 5% surcharge, so GBP 200 becomes GBP 210 a year, or GBP 17.50 a month.
- Car's age now (advanced): used to work out how many supplement years remain (a 3-year-old car has 3 left, a 6-year-old none), to hide the first-year rate for used cars, and to flag the historic vehicle exemption for cars over 40 years old.
- Years you plan to keep it (advanced): adds up the tax for each year of ownership, dropping the supplement once its years run out and including any surcharge. Useful for comparing a nearly-new car still inside the supplement window with one that has aged out of it.
- Supplement years left (advanced): how many more years the GBP 440 applies. Buying a car at four years old means paying the supplement for only two more years.
- Historic exemption (advanced): cars built more than 40 years ago can move to the historic tax class and pay nothing, though they must still be taxed each year at GBP 0. Electric cars lost their exemption in April 2025 and a per-mile charge for EVs and plug-in hybrids has been announced for 2028.
Source and further reading: GOV.UK (DVLA): vehicle tax rate tables.