How to tax a car online in the UK

Taxing a car online takes a couple of minutes on gov.uk and costs nothing beyond the tax itself. You need the registration number, an 11-digit or 12-digit reference from the right document, and a way to pay. This page covers which reference you need in each situation, and the traps that stop the process going through.

Never pay a third-party site to do this for you. The only official route is gov.uk/vehicle-tax, and it charges no fee for the service.

Which reference number do you need

Which document you use depends on your situation, and using the wrong one is the most common reason the form rejects you.

If you already own the car and have the logbook, use the 11-digit number on your V5C. If the DVLA has sent a V11 reminder, the 16-digit number on that works too. If you have just bought the car, you will not be on the V5C yet, so use the 12-digit number on the green new keeper slip (V5C/2) the seller hands you.

Taxing a car you have just bought

You must tax a car before you drive it, and tax does not transfer from the previous owner. The moment the car is sold the seller’s tax is cancelled and refunded to them, so a car with months left on its tax gives you nothing.

Use the green V5C/2 slip on the day you buy it. If the seller cannot produce that slip, be careful. It suggests either the logbook is missing or they are not the registered keeper, both of which are worth understanding before money changes hands.

What it costs and how to pay

The amount depends on the car, not on how you tax it. What you pay is set by the date of first registration, the CO2 emissions and, on newer cars, the original list price. Our VED bands guide explains which system applies to which car, and the current amounts are published on gov.uk.

You can pay in one annual payment, in two six-monthly payments, or monthly by Direct Debit. Spreading the cost carries a small uplift, so a single annual payment is the cheapest option.

Taxing a car with no MOT

The system checks for a valid MOT automatically and will refuse to tax a car that does not have one. There is no way round this, and no need for one: get the MOT done first, wait for the record to update, then tax the car.

The exception is driving to a pre-booked MOT test. That is permitted on an untaxed car, but only to and from the booked appointment, and the car still needs to be insured.

Declaring SORN instead

If the car is off the road and staying off it, declare SORN rather than taxing it. That is also free, also done on gov.uk, and it stops the car accruing an obligation while it sits on a driveway.

SORN lasts until you tax the car again. The one thing it does not allow is driving on a public road, including to a garage, with the pre-booked MOT test as the only exception.

What happens if you do not tax it

DVLA runs automated checks against its own record rather than relying on roadside spotting, so an untaxed car is usually detected within weeks. The consequences escalate from a late-licensing penalty through to prosecution, and the vehicle can be clamped or impounded.

The current penalty amounts are published on gov.uk/vehicle-tax. They change, so treat any figure you read on a forum as indicative rather than reliable.

Check the tax status before you buy

Before you hand over money, check the car itself. Enter the registration on Honest Car Check and the free profile shows the current tax status and the next due date straight from DVLA, alongside the MOT record.

An untaxed car is not automatically a problem, and it is very common on cars that have been sitting waiting to sell. What matters is that you know before you buy, so you can tax it on the day and drive it home legally.