2025 VED car tax: what you'll be paying

The rules around Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), often misidentified as road tax, are changing at pace, with the increasing popularity of electric and hybrid cars, as well as shifting political winds, the engines of that change. What will EV buyers be paying? What is the ‘expensive car supplement’? To help clarify all of this and ascertain exactly what you should be paying, we delve into the details.

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Hybrid car tax changes from April 1 2025

First-year and owner VED for cars that emit between 1-50g/km of CO2 – most PHEVs – will jump from £10 to £110 from April 1 2025, while 51-75g/km emitters jump from £30 to £135. For reference, the new hybrid BMW M5 falls into the former category, although it is also subject to the expensive car supplement. Likewise other hybrids with similar range and CO2 figures, like the new electrified range of Bentleys and hybrid Porsches. The Lamborghini Urus SE just clips into the slightly higher band.

Electric car tax changes 2025 – ‘expensive car supplement’ returns

For 2025, EVs will no longer escape the £40,000+ premium car tax, returning after being scrapped in 2020, lumping more expensive EVs with a £425 bill per year cost for its first five years of registration. Drivers of all electric vehicles registered between April 1 2017 and March 3 2025 will from April 2025 also be liable for a £195 standard yearly rate, while older EVs (pre-April 2017) will sit on a £20 standard yearly rate.

EVs registered on or after April 1 2025 will be liable for a first-year rate of £10 before moving on to the £195 yearly rate later on. As most EVs are quite expensive – over £40,000 – cars ranging from high-spec Cupra Borns, to Porsche Taycans, will cost £435 to tax for their first year, then £620 for the following four years, from April 2025. 

The Alpine A290 GTS Premiere Edition without any options escapes the ‘expensive car supplement’, starting as it does from £38,500. Some manufacturers have reduced the prices of their cars to make sure their buyers escape the supplement. Abarth, for instance, dropped the price of the 600e Scorpionissima by £2100 in direct response, from £41,975 to £39,875. Over five years, this will net buyers a saving of £2125 in yearly VED costs. Vauxhall too has dropped the prices of its higher-spec models to below the £40,000 threshold.

VED doubled for 76g/km+ CO2 cars, including some hybrids

For cars producing over 76g/km of CO2 – that’s most new higher-end performance cars that aren’t hybrids – first-year rates will double compared to 2024. That also goes for smaller battery, lower-range hybrids, like the McLaren Artura, Ferrari 296 GTB, Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E-Performance and new Lamborghini Temerario, which sit in the 100-200g/km ballpark.

Cars emitting over 255g/km – hybrid or not – will lump their first owners with an extra £2745 cost from April 1 2025. 

Most high-performance cars that still retain a purely internal combustion powertrain will see their prices double compared to 2024, even if they’re not on the maximum rate.

Hot hatches, from the Honda Civic Type R and Ford Focus ST to the VW Golf GTI Clubsport, if registered from 1 April 2025, will carry a £2190 cost before the first mile is covered. While the Clubsport only just strays into that £2190 band at 171g/km, the standard GTI, which produces just 162g/km of CO2, will cost ‘just’ £1360 in VED at first registration. Incidentally, the GTI doesn’t, escape the expensive car supplement, given it costs £40,735 – just £735 over the threshold. A standard Focus ST, meanwhile, does escape the supplement.

The Toyota GR Yaris, which produces 215g/km, will cost £3300 to register from 1 April 2025. Likewise the Audi RS3, which falls into the same bracket.

Aston Martin’s entire range of GT cars and SUVS – from the Vantage to the DB12, Vanquish and DBX707 – are all in the top £5490 bracket. The only car in Aston Martin’s 2025 range that could escape it is the new Valhalla, which with its hybrid V8 powertrain and electric-only capability, could post CO2 figures under 200g/km. The Maserati MC20 and combustion-powered GranTurismos are only just caught in the highest band, with figures in the 260-280g/km range.

Bentley with its Continental GT and Flying Spur, which now feature a hybrid powertrain and official CO2 figures as low as 29g/km, escape the doubling. Likewise, Porsche’s Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. While the new 911 GT3 and naturally-aspirated 718s sit firmly in the top band, the new range of 911 Carreras (including the GTS T-Hybrid) and four-cylinder 718s are just under the threshold.

It’s a mixture of abject wins, narrow escapes and narrow losses for BMW. The new plug-in hybrid M5 has come along at exactly the right time, sporting a hybrid powertrain, CO2 figures under 50g/km and real usable electric range. The BMW M3, which is not a hybrid, narrowly escapes the top band with a maximum CO2 figure of 235g/km – just 20g/km below the threshold – but will still cost £4680 to register from April 1. The M8, X5 M and X6 M meanwhile, which use a similar V8 to the M5 only without the hybrid tech and electric driving capability, do not. The M8 Coupe is just 4g/km over the 255g/km threshold, though that’s expected to be discontinued in 2025 regardless.

The soon-to-be-replaced ICE-only Audi RS6, RS7 and RSQ8 are similarly afflicted. Mercedes’ V8 models are in a curious position. Only the £180k, 800bhp+ E-Performance GT63s and SL63 escape the top bracket with their hybridity dragging overall emissions down to below 200g/km, though being cleaner than a GR Yaris still means a £3300 first registration cost, before the expensive car supplement. The AMG GT63 S, by comparison, gets nailed, racking up the full £5490 (plus ECS) first reg’ bill thanks to its 319g/km rating.

The only hybrid we’ve found that doesn’t escape the top bracket is the 276g/km Lamborghini Revuelto. While it can do just under six miles on electric power alone, that’s not enough to counteract the output of its 6.5-litre V12. The Lamborghini Temerario on the other hand, which combines the same hybrid system with a new twin-turbo V8, should escape the top bracket, given its all-new twin-turbo V8 is much cleaner than its big brother’s V12. Overall figures are expected to be half those of the 330g/km+ Huracán.

It’s the same story for Ferrari and McLaren. While the hybrid 296 GTB escapes the top bracket comfortably at 149g/km and therefore a first VED of just £540, the V12 Purosangue and 12 Cilindri, do not. The McLaren 750S and GTS are only just in the top bracket, while the clean hybrid Artura at 108g/km, is miles cheaper – £390 in first VED, as opposed to £5490 for its siblings.

Performance car tax from April 2025: representative examples

Here are some of the above examples collated into a table. Remember, all of these (minus the Ford in its most basic form) will incur the expensive car supplement on top of their VED cost, payable for the first five years. The below figures are payable only at first registration, with a flat £195 rate plus the expensive car supplement for five years, payable a year later.

A bit of perspective: taxation on new cars overseas

There has been some publicity around French tariffs that are payable based on the weight of cars heavier than 1600kg. However, there is also a ‘pollution tax’ based on emissions. Assuming you are buying a car for your own use, without dispensation for dependents, disability or the use of E85 (a 40 per cent discount), an eye-watering flat rate of €60,000 is payable on any car that has a WLTP CO2 emissions figure of over 194g/km. 

For reference, the Audi RS3, which escapes the 2025 UK hike, clears the 2024 French threshold for a €60k ‘pollution tax’ by just 14g/km. The BMW M3 is in the top class too, though the heavily hybridised cars mentioned above, with CO2 figures under 100g/km (118g/km to be precise), get zilch. They might get tagged by the tax rules around weight, but they’re generally financially preferable to lighter cars without emissions-friendly hybrid tech.

French rules see pollution tax more or less double the figure of the previous tier, for the tier above. For example, 135-139g/km incurs a €510 bill, while 140-149g/km a €983 bill. By comparison, while 160-169g/km incurs a €4279 bill, 170-179g/km incurs a €8770 bill. That goes up to €22,380 for 180-189, and €45,990 for 190-193 before the top level tax kicks in. And remember, these are 2024 rules, with increases possible for 2025. The grass isn’t always greener…

VED tax bands: 1 April 2025 onwards

Emissions-dependent rates apply to cars registered between March 2001 and April 2017 and these rise with inflation every year. The only change otherwise for April 1 2025 onwards is as above, the lumping of low and zero emission cars from before April 2017 into the £20 bracket. The figures for 01-17 cars below are accurate as of January 2025. This table also does not account for the ‘expensive car supplement’, which will apply to any car priced at over £40,000 from new that’s less than five years old.

Older and classic car road tax

For cars older than March 2001, car taxation is fairly simple. As of Janury 2025, if your engine is 1549cc or less, it’s £210. If it’s more than 1549cc, it’s £345. 

Alongside their old school charm, classic cars also provide the benefit of zero road tax. What’s less widely known is the requirement to apply for a road tax exemption, something that can be granted should your car be 40 years old or more. The process can once again be undertaken on the government website, or at a Post Office.

How to pay car tax

VED can now be paid on the government website. Should you have received a DVLA V11 reminder letter through the post, this can be referenced in the process to speed things along. 

Car tax can also be paid at your local Post Office, all you’ll need is your V5C, a valid MoT, proof of insurance and a road tax reminder should you have one. The DVLA also offers a 24 hour phone service that can be accessed 0300 123 4321.