Vehicle Excise Duty ('road tax')

To find your car's CO2 emissions and road tax band
(for cars registered after 1st March 2001), search the WhatGreenCar? vehicle database.

Road tax - 1 May 2009 to 31 March 2011Return to top

From 1st May 2009, VED will be totally restructured with 13 new bands (A to M) replacing the current 7-band (A to G) system. VED will still be based on CO2 (for cars registered since 1st March 2001), and band A will continue to apply to all cars with CO2-emissions of up to 100 gCO2/km, but most bands will be narrower (bands B to I will only be 10 gCO2/km wide). The highest band M will apply to cars with emissions of over 255 gCO2/km (currently the highest band applies to cars with over 225 gCO2/km).

The scale of charges for 2009-10 has been adjusted to reduce the 'standard rate' of VED for all new and existing cars with emissions up to 150 gCO2/km, and to increase the standard rate for all cars that emit over 150 gCO2/km with the most polluting cars paying £405 per year, £5 up on 2008-09 rates.

In addition, from 1st April 2010, a new 'first-year rate' will be introduced for all new cars during the first year of ownership and will be dependent on the VED band. All new cars with emissions of 130 gCO2/km or less will have a zero-rated first-year rate (i.e. no 'road tax' will be charged in their first year) and then pay the standard rate thereafter; all new cars with emissions between 131 and 160 gCO2/km will pay the same first-year rate as the standard rate in 2010-11; and all new cars with emissions over 160 gCO2/km will pay a higher first-year rate, up to a maximum first-year rate for the most polluting cars of £950 in 2010-11.

The discount for alternatively fuelled cars will continue to be in the range £15 or £20 in 2009-10, but will be reduced to £10 in 2010-11, and will disappear in 2011, the rates aligning with the standard rates of VED.

For cars registered before March 2001, VED will continue to be charged according to engine size - £125 up to 1550cc and £190 for larger engine sizes.

12-month VED rates for cars registered since 1st March 2001*

*Includes cars emitting over 225g/km registered between 1 March 2001 and 23 March 2006.

12-month VED rates for cars (private and light goods) registered before March 2001

12-month VED rates for light goods vehicles registered on or after 1 March 2001

*For Euro 4 vans registered between 1 March 2003 and 31 December 2006;
 For Euro 5 vans registered between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2010.