Check if your car is taxed using our FREE car tax check.
Our free car check contains over 20 fields of data about the vehicle. If you’re buying a car, you will want to ensure the history is as expected and the vehicle meets the requirements to be legally driven on the UK’s roads.
Our report includes important information on:
Manufacturer
Model
Fuel
Engine size
Registration date
Co2 emissions
Car tax status
Car tax due date
It is against the law in the UK to drive a car without road tax, therefore it is essential that you ensure your car has valid tax. The amount you will pay for your tax will depend on the category your car falls into, with different VED (Vehicle Exercise Duty) bands for petrol, diesel and electric cars, which vary based on the Co2 emissions emitted.
The DVLA will run monthly checks on all cars registered in the UK — if your car is not registered as a SORN and is untaxed, an automated £80 fine is sent to the registered keeper’s address. Failure to pay can result in the fine increasing up to £1,000 and the DVLA has the power to clamp your car until the tax has been paid.
The only exception for driving without tax is if you are driving to a pre-booked MOT test.
If your car was registered before 1 March 2001, your road tax will be calculated based on your engine size. For a car registered after this date, the tax will be calculated based on the CO2 emissions and fuel type.
If you cancel your car tax, you will automatically receive a refund for any full months remaining. This is calculated from the date your information was registered and you should receive the payment within 10 working days.
You can tax your vehicle online via the government website. To do so you will need a reference number from a V11 reminder document, your vehicle logbook, or a green ‘new keeper’ slip if you have recently purchased the car.
You can pay for your road tax by setting up a Direct Debit online or at a Post Office. You can choose to pay every 6 or 12 months, although there is a 5% surcharge for paying in 6-month intervals.
Some vehicles are ‘exempt’ from tax but still need to be taxed even though you don’t need to pay. You may be exempt from tax if:
Road tax must be renewed every year, although payments can be made on either a 6-month or 12-month basis. You can check when your car tax expires using our free car tax check by entering your registration plate at the top of the page.
Some cars have free road tax, but you will still need to register your car using the DVLA website. Read our informative guide on car tax bands to find out how much your road tax will be.
If you have a used car registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 that emits less than 100g/km of CO2, you won’t pay any road tax. If your car is registered after this date, only electric vehicles are exempt from road tax as the government aims to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions created by combustion vehicles.
If you're buying a used car, it's important to make sure that the vehicle is taxed. There are many different ways to check if a car is taxed.
If you're looking for a quicker way to see if your car is taxed, simply enter your registration number into our free tax check tool, and you'll be given a complete road tax status, including the number of days until the expiration date.
To find out when your vehicle tax is due, use our free car tax checker. Once you’ve entered your vehicle registration number, you will be provided with the status of your car tax and the date it expires.
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