Methodology + Sources

How we source, calculate, and refresh every UK Vehicle Excise Duty value on HowMuchIsCarTax.com. Every statutory rate traces to a named gov.uk, HM Treasury, HMRC, OBR, or legislation.gov.uk source. Trade-press references provide context only, never statutory values.

Verified May 2026 (2026-05-11).

Primary UK sources

These are the sources every statutory £ value on the site traces back to. If a number is not in one of these, it is not on this site.

Source	What we use it for	Refresh cadence
DVLA Vehicle Excise Duty rate tables	Statutory 2026/27 first-year, standard-rate, and pre-2017 CO2-banded rate tables. Anchor for every £ value on this site.	Reviewed monthly; updated immediately on any HM Treasury rate-setting event
GOV.UK Vehicle tax overview	Authoritative explanation of how UK VED works, who pays, payment routes, and consumer-facing process.	Reviewed monthly
GOV.UK Check if a vehicle is taxed	Free official DVLA registration-number lookup. Linked from /check-car-tax-by-reg as the authoritative tool.	Reviewed quarterly (process changes rare)
DVLA homepage and contact	Operator identification (DVLA is the regulator), contact lines (0300 790 6802), and DVLA publications referenced for SORN, V5C, and tax-class changes.	Reviewed quarterly
GOV.UK Vehicle Excise Duty (policy framework)	Authoritative HMRC explanatory note for the April 2025 zero-emission VED reform. Source for the "EVs lost exemption" policy framing.	Snapshot; superseded only by subsequent HMRC explanatory notes
HM Treasury Spring Statement / Budget VED announcements	Primary source for VED rate changes announced at Budget events. The April 2026 standard-rate move from £195 to £200, supplement £425 to £440, and EV threshold £40k to £50k all trace to Autumn Budget 2024 / Spring Statement 2025.	Each Budget cycle
Office for Budget Responsibility Vehicle Excise Duty receipts forecast	Independent forecast of UK VED receipts. Used as a corroborating reference for the structural shift to EV-included taxation.	Reviewed at every OBR Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication
HMRC Company car tax (Benefit in Kind) appropriate percentage tables	Statutory BIK rates by CO2 / electric range for 2024/25 through 2026/27 (and the forward path to 2029/30). Anchor for /company-car-tax.	Each Budget cycle
Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (as amended)	Primary legislation underlying every UK VED rate. Schedule 1 sets the rate-setting framework; the schedule has been amended at every Budget since 1994.	Reviewed when legislation.gov.uk publishes an amendment
GOV.UK Historic vehicle tax class	Authoritative 40-year rolling exemption rule, eligibility criteria, and tax-class change process. Anchor for /historic-vehicles.	Annual review (cohort rolls forward by one year each April)
GOV.UK Disability exemption (PIP / DLA / AFIP)	Authoritative criteria for 100% disability exemption (higher rate DLA / enhanced rate PIP mobility / AFIP) and 50% PIP standard rate discount. Anchor for /exemptions.	Reviewed quarterly
GOV.UK SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification)	Authoritative SORN declaration process. Anchor for /sorn.	Reviewed quarterly

Secondary references

Trade-press references used for narrative context and historical commentary only. None of the statutory rates on this site are sourced from these; they are corroborating references, not authorities.

Reference	How we use it
RAC Drive: car tax guides	Trade-press secondary reference for consumer context and historical VED commentary. Not used for statutory rate values.
AA: car tax explained	Consumer-facing reference. Cross-checked for narrative framing, not rate values.
What Car? VED guides	Trade-press secondary reference for per-make context. Not used for statutory rate values.
Autocar UK car tax coverage	Trade-press secondary reference for industry context. Not used for statutory rate values.

Calculation framework

Post-April 2017 system

Two-part calculation. First-year rate is the CO2-banded value from gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables (13 bands, £10 for Band A to £5,690 for Band M diesel). Standard rate from year 2 is £200 for 2026/27 regardless of CO2. Expensive car supplement adds £440/year for years 2-6 if the original list price exceeds £40,000 for ICE or £50,000 for zero-emission vehicles.

Pre-2017, post-2001 system

Single CO2-banded annual rate from the pre-2017 schedule (13 bands, £0 to £790). The same rate applies every year. No expensive car supplement. No first-year vs standard split.

Pre-2001 system

Engine size only. £210/year for engines up to 1549cc, £345/year for engines over 1549cc. The 40-year rolling historic exemption supersedes both once eligible (in 2026/27, cars built before 1 January 1986 are exempt).

Expensive car supplement

Trigger is the "original list price" (including factory-fitted options) when the vehicle was first registered, not the current market value. For ICE vehicles the threshold is £40,000. For zero-emission vehicles registered from April 2025 the threshold is £50,000 (raised from £40,000 at the April 2026 reform). Supplement runs for five years: vehicle years 2 through 6. From year 7, only the standard rate applies.

Company car BIK

Appropriate percentage from the HMRC table multiplied by the P11D value gives the taxable benefit. The taxable benefit is added to your income; the tax due is the benefit multiplied by your marginal income-tax rate. EVs at 4% in 2026/27; PHEVs 6%-19% by electric range; petrol and diesel 23%-37% by CO2.

Disability exemption

Full (100%) exemption: vehicles used by recipients of higher-rate DLA mobility, enhanced-rate PIP mobility, AFIP, or War Pensioners Mobility Supplement. 50% discount: vehicles used by recipients of standard-rate PIP mobility. Applied to the vehicle via DVLA tax-class change, not as a cash rebate.

In scope

- Statutory VED rate tables for every UK system (post-2017, 2001-2017, pre-2001)
- Working VED calculator covering all three systems and the expensive car supplement
- Per-fuel-type, per-make, per-model VED guidance from manufacturer CO2 + list price
- Expensive car supplement (£40k ICE, £50k EV) deep-dive
- Historic vehicle 40-year rolling exemption with cohort rollover annually
- Disability exemption (DLA, PIP, AFIP) and military / agricultural / disabled passenger vehicle exemptions
- SORN declaration, payment routes, and DVLA enforcement (£80 penalty, clamping, court fines)
- Company car BIK rates for 2026/27 onwards

Out of scope

- Northern Ireland-specific motor tax (NI is on the same UK VED system - no NI-specific reference page needed)
- Goods Vehicle Movement Service / HGV-specific VED frameworks (separate statutory regime; out of scope)
- Insurance product comparison or vehicle finance product comparison
- Live dealer pricing or used-car market commentary
- Personal-circumstance tax advice (we publish reference rates only)
- Live registration-number lookup tool (DVLA owns this; we point you there)

What we deliberately do not publish

- Live registration-number lookups: DVLA runs gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax for free. We do not wrap, scrape, or front-end that service.
- Insurance quotes, finance products, or broker referrals: zero affiliate links across the site.
- Personalised tax advice: we publish reference rates, not opinions on individual circumstances.
- Live dealer pricing scrapes for the £40k / £50k supplement test - we use manufacturer-published list prices only.
- VED commentary from advocacy bodies framed as statutory rates - we link the underlying gov.uk page instead.

Refresh cadence

- HM Treasury Spring Statement / Autumn Budget event with any VED-touching announcement
- DVLA gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables publication of a revised schedule
- HMRC company car BIK table refresh
- OBR Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication (corroborating receipts forecast)
- Annual 1 April rate-year change (historic exemption cohort rolls forward; new tax year rates take effect)

The site uses a single LAST_VERIFIED_DATE constant. When a refresh ships, that constant is updated; every footer date, every Article schema dateModified, and every "verified" stamp on every page rolls forward at the same time.

Editorial position + corrections

We are an independent reference, not a regulator. Always verify with gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax before paying. If you spot a stale rate or a calculation that does not match the official table, email [email protected] with the page URL and the gov.uk reference. We update on confirmation.