The cost of car tax varies for each car. Its age, engine size, the amount of CO2 it emits or the type of fuel it uses, will impact how much it costs to tax it.

To find out whether your car is taxed or not enter your vehicle registration number into our Car Tax Checker above.

You can use the reference number from any of the following three documents to tax your car:

• A vehicle tax reminder (V11)
• Your vehicle’s logbook (V5C), which must be in your name
• The green ‘new keeper’ slip, if you’ve just bought the car

If you don’t have any of these documents, you’ll have to apply for a new logbook. You can usually do this whilst also taxing your vehicle. For more details on this, have a read of our article: How to tax a car: Your complete guide.

No, if your car requires does not hold a valid MOT certificate, you are not able to tax it. You must tax your car once it has passed its MOT. If you do tax your car without having a valid MOT, you risk invalidating your insurance.

The only scenarios where you can tax your car without it having a valid MOT are:

• If the car is MOT exempt
• If the car is road tax exempt
• If the car is under 3 years old
• If the car has been confirmed as SORN (statutory off-road notification)
• If the car is used and registered to a disabled person.

You can find out more about road and car tax exemptions in our appropriately named article: Road tax exemption: all you need to know.

Yes, you can tax a car without a V5, as long as you are the car’s registered keeper.

You will need to apply for a new V5C or a replacement, and you can do this at the Post Office or via the GOV.UK website, where you can also tax your vehicle at the same time. Having a V11 reminder or V62 form can help make the process of taxing your car without a V5 document easier.

Road tax, which is also commonly known as Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), regularly changes, and it depends on vehicle tax bands.

Cars in the UK sit under different tax bands and each band will have different rates applied to them, which car owners then pay as their car tax. Which car tax bands and rates are applied to your vehicle depends on either it’s engine size, fuel type of how much CO2 it emits. It could be either of these aspects of the vehicle, depending on when the vehicle was originally registered.

For instance, for cars registered between March 1^st 2001 and March 31^st 2017, their owners pay car tax based on CO2 emissions – the lower the emissions, the lower the road tax.

Whilst there are some exemptions, on the whole, technically, it is illegal to drive a car that hasn’t been taxed. If you’re caught, the police will most likely issue you with a fine.

You can cancel your car tax by informing the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) via the GOV.UK website. You should only cancel your car tax if you no longer own the car, or you’ve taken it off the road (SORN).

We have a step-by-step guide on cancelling car tax which you can read here: How to Cancel Car Tax: A Step-by-Step Guide.

To get a car tax refund, you need to cancel your car tax. You can do this by informing the DVLA via the GOV.UK website.

Once the DVLA have been informed of your car tax cancellation you’ll receive a refund cheque for any full months left on your vehicle tax. If you pay your car tax via Direct Debit, this will also be automatically cancelled.

It was confirmed in 2022 by the UK government that drivers of electric vehicles will need to pay Vehicle Excise Duty, also known as road tax, from April 1st 2025.