About HowMuchIsCarTax.com
HowMuchIsCarTax.com is an independent UK Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) reference. We publish the gov.uk-anchored 2026/27 rate tables, a working VED calculator, per-fuel-type and per-vehicle guidance, and the rules around exemptions, the expensive car supplement, and the historic vehicle 40-year rule.
Verified May 2026. Independent. Not affiliated with DVLA or GOV.UK.
Why this site exists
UK car tax is structurally complicated. There are three different VED systems running in parallel (pre-2001 engine-size, 2001 to March 2017 CO2-banded annual rate, and post-April 2017 first-year-plus-standard-rate). The 2026/27 reform raised the standard rate to £200, increased every first-year band, raised the expensive car supplement to £440, and changed the EV supplement threshold from £40,000 to £50,000. Electric vehicles only lost their full exemption in April 2025.
The SERP for "how much is car tax" is dominated by gov.uk (correct but generic), the AA / RAC / Parkers / Auto Express trade press (broadly accurate but commercial), and a long tail of insurance-broker content marketing that mixes valid statutory numbers with sales hooks. None of those is a clean, independent, calculator-equipped reference site.
This site is that reference. Every number on every page traces to a named gov.uk page or the underlying HMT Budget document. Every per-vehicle page calculates from the manufacturer's published CO2 figure. There are no affiliate links, no broker commissions, no inflated "average cost" claims.
Who runs this
HowMuchIsCarTax.com is built and operated by Oliver Wakefield-Smith through Digital Signet, an independent web publisher specialising in UK public-data references. Oliver runs a portfolio of UK gov-fee reference sites covering MOT cost, driving test cost, theory test cost, driving lessons cost, council tax bands, passport renewal cost, and others.
Digital Signet has no commercial relationship with DVLA, DVSA, or HM Treasury. We sell no services into the car-tax space. The portfolio is monetised through display advertising and editorial transparency, not affiliate referrals or paid placements.
Editorial principles
Single primary source per number
Every statutory rate on this site is anchored to gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables (the DVLA-published 2026/27 schedule), gov.uk/vehicle-excise-duty (the overview), or the underlying HM Treasury Budget / Spring Statement document that set the rate. If a rate is not on gov.uk, it does not appear here.
No paid placements
There are no sponsored listings, no paid placements, no affiliate links into car-tax brokers or finance products. The site does not accept commission from DVLA payment partners. Read more in /methodology.
No fabricated per-vehicle pricing
Per-make / per-model pages calculate VED from the manufacturer-published CO2 g/km figure mapped to the gov.uk band table. Where a list price is needed to determine the £40k / £50k supplement, we cite the manufacturer UK price page. We do not invent or scrape live dealer prices.
Math documented inline
Every worked example shows the band lookup, the first-year rate, the standard rate, and the supplement calculation. If you can't see how we got to a number, that's a bug - file a correction.
Update only when reality changes
The site is reviewed monthly and refreshed on every HM Treasury Budget event that touches VED. The LAST_VERIFIED_DATE constant drives every footer date and Article schema dateModified - one variable, one source of truth.
Independent of DVLA and GOV.UK
We are not affiliated with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency or GOV.UK. We are a private editorial reference. Always verify with gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax before paying.
What this site covers
Every published route on HowMuchIsCarTax.com:
What we deliberately do not publish
- - Live registration-number lookups. DVLA runs the free official service at gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax. We point you to that, not to a paid wrapper.
- - Insurance quotes, finance products, or broker referrals. There are no affiliate links.
- - Personalised tax advice. We publish reference rates; we do not advise on individual circumstances.
- - Live dealer pricing scrapes. We use manufacturer-published CO2 g/km and list price only.
Sister UK cost references
Corrections + contact
Spotted a stale rate, a band-table error, or a per-vehicle calculation that doesn't add up? Email [email protected] with the page URL and the gov.uk reference for the correct value. We update on confirmation.
Read next: Methodology + Sources.