Overview
- Vehicle Excise Duty changes take effect on 1 April 2026, with the post-2017 standard rate rising from £195 to £200 and top first‑year charges for new high‑emission cars increasing from £5,490 to £5,690.
- Drivers were told to “do it now” in a DVLA post directing people to tax online, with coverage warning of possible fines up to £1,000 for failing to keep vehicles taxed.
- DfT data show 498,000 vehicles are untaxed—about one in 83—with nearly a quarter untaxed for over six months, prompting safety bodies to warn of links to uninsured and unroadworthy driving.
- Reports highlight steep first‑year bills for the most polluting new cars, with roughly 60 models now in the top CO2 band and charges said to have more than doubled over two years for many of these vehicles.
- The government has confirmed a pay‑per‑mile electric VED from April 2028, which the OBR says could cut EV sales by hundreds of thousands, while EVA England launches a survey to capture drivers’ views on the reforms.