Your Car Tax Bands

Published Date: 9th Sep 2014

Here’s a quick guide to car tax bands and costs

To work out how much your car tax costs can be a confusing affair. Road tax is something all motorists need to pay, though - so here's a quick online guide to today's prices.

Your Car tax or Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates are always based on either engine size or fuel type and CO2 emissions, depending on when the vehicle was registered. If your car was first registered before 1st March 2001, your car tax rate is based on the car's engine size - whether it is below or above 1,549cc.

 

Tax bands for cars registered from March 2001

If your car was registered on or after 1st March 2001, the rates are split into car tax bands depending on the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the vehicle. These emissions are measured by how many grams are emitted from the exhaust for every kilometre travelled (g/km).

In simple terms, the lower the car's emissions, the lower the vehicle tax band and the less you pay. There are two elements to tax rates, though. There's a main tax rate and a first year rate which can be more or less than the normal rate payable on new cars for the first 12 months of ownership.

 

Current vehicle tax bands:

CO2 Emissions in g/km (tax band)

                First year rate    Annual rate

Up to 100 (A)     £0           £0

101-110 (B)         £0           £20

111-120 (C)         £0           £30

121-130 (D)         £0           £110

131-140 (E)          £130       £130

141-150 (F)          £145       £145

151-165 (G)         £180       £180

166-175 (H)         £290       £205

176-185 (I)           £345       £225

186-200 (J)          £485       £265

201-225 (K)         £635       £285

226-255 (L)          £860       £485

Over 255 (M)     £1,090   £500

 

Demise of the car tax disc

 

From 1st October 2014, you will no longer need to display a paper tax disc in the windscreen of your car. Records will be fully electronic with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) used to check if you're taxed.

When it comes to renewal, motorists will have the option to pay biannually or monthly instead of an annual payment, but a surcharge is added to these options.