Do UK drivers understand car tax rules?

Aside from British drivers being misinformed, there are also a few myths doing the rounds.

When asked what can affect how much road tax you pay, 14% of drivers said the number of miles you drive each year, and 13% said the driver's age. The truth is neither has any bearing on it, although a pay-per-mile EV tax has been floated more than once. A further 54% named CO₂ emissions, 44% fuel type, 28% the registration date and 18% the car's original list price, which are the four things that do.

Most worrying of all, 8% of drivers believe there are no consequences for keeping an untaxed car on the road as long as it's insured.

The admin gaps that could cost you

It’s clear there are knowledge gaps among British drivers about how the car tax system works. And we get it, it’s not completely straightforward. But what about keeping tabs on your own personal car tax admin?

Our survey found that almost one in four drivers (24%) don't know when their car tax is next due for renewal. Since paper tax discs were scrapped in 2014, there is nothing on the windscreen to remind you, however, the DVLA's automatic number plate cameras don't need reminding at all, and this is where it could get costly for drivers.

Half of all motorists (50%) say they can't find their car's tax band, or aren't sure how to, which is crucial, especially when comparing two cars and want to know what each will cost you every year.

Nearly a quarter (22.5%) of drivers don't know where their V5C logbook is. This is a pretty important document, required for taxing and selling your car. A lost V5C costs £25 and a wait of up to five days to replace.

So what happens if you don't tax your car? Well, 61% of survey respondents knew that you could be fined, 51% knew that your car could be impounded and 41% knew that it could be clamped. All three are true. So why are we so lax when it comes to keeping on top of our car tax admin?

Who knows least? Gen Z, and (surprisingly) EV owners

Britain's young drivers are the least prepared. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 38% don't know when their tax is due, and 41% don't know where their logbook is. They are also the most likely to believe the myths: 29% think mileage affects their tax and 25% think the driver's age does.

When asked what you must do with a car that sits unused on your driveway, 44% said you must keep it taxed. (You can, but the sensible answer is to declare it off the road with a SORN and pay nothing.)

The 25-to-34 age group has its own blind spots. A quarter (26%) believe electric cars still don't pay vehicle tax, the highest of any age group, and a third (33%) think the remaining tax transfers to the new owner when a car is sold.

Over-55s are the most likely to say "don't know" when asked about the expensive car supplement (57%) and whether EVs pay tax (56%). But they are the least likely to fall for the myths (just 8% believe mileage affects tax and 6% the driver's age), the best informed about refunds (66% correct) and the most likely to know about SORN (81%).

Then there are electric car owners. If anyone should know the rules, it's the group whose running costs changed most recently. They are a confident bunch, with 85% of them saying they understood vehicle tax well. Dig a little deeper, though, and EV owners are the most likely of all to get the basics wrong. More than a quarter (27%) think tax transfers to the new owner when you sell, against 6% of never-owners. Four in ten (41%) think a car parked on the driveway must be kept taxed. Over a quarter (27%) think mileage affects their bill, 23% think age does, and 14% believe there are no consequences for driving untaxed if the car is insured, more than three times the rate among people who have never owned an EV (4%).

The gender gap

There is a gender gap too, and it starts with confidence. Men are more likely to say they understand vehicle tax well (72% vs 63% of women), while women are more likely to answer "unsure", whether the question is where the money goes (40% vs 31%) or whether EVs pay tax (57% vs 44%). Is the confidence justified? Partly. Men did score higher on the two biggest questions: 39% knew road tax doesn't pay for the roads, against 26% of women, and 47% knew EVs now pay tax, against 35%.

But the gap closes on the questions that matter at the point of sale. Men and women were level on what happens to the tax when you sell (56% each), women were slightly ahead on SORN (75% vs 73%), and on the expensive car supplement both were equally poor (16% vs 14% knew the £40,000 threshold).

The real difference between the genders is that women will accept when they’re not sure, whereas men will confidently go ahead and select an answer which is essentially wrong. An example being 14% think the tax transfers to the new owner when you sell (vs 8% of women), 15% think the driver's age affects the bill (vs 11%) and 9% think insurance means there are no consequences for driving untaxed (vs 7%). Men know a little more than women, but not nearly as much as they think.

The UK cities most at risk of a car tax fine

Forgetting to pay for your car tax can have consequences in the form of fines, something we’d all like to avoid. Likewise, if you need to replace a lost logbook, you’ll need to pay for that too.

We looked at which cities have the highest share of drivers most likely to incur a fine.

Nottingham drivers are most at risk, with more than a quarter of drivers there (27%) saying they don't know when their tax is due, and more than a third (35%) not knowing where their logbook is, the highest of any city on both counts combined. Leeds is close behind, with a third of drivers (33%) unable to locate their V5C.

London has the biggest problem with renewal dates: 29% of drivers in the capital don't know when their tax is due, with Belfast (28%) and Manchester (28%) just behind.

Newcastle has the most drivers who flatly say they do not know where their logbook is (26%), and Southampton isn't far behind (20%).

At the other end of the scale, Brighton's drivers are the best prepared in the country: 91% know when their tax is due and not a single respondent said they'd lost track of their logbook (though 16% were unsure). Sheffield (90% know their renewal date) and Norwich (88% know where their logbook is) also do well.

Breakdown:

Across the wider regions, Greater London (37%) and Northern Ireland (28%) have the most drivers who don't know their renewal date, while the East Midlands (34%) and Greater London (32%) have the most who can't locate their logbook. The East Midlands is also the region least sure about electric car tax, with 72% unable to say whether EVs pay it.

Is car tax fair? Britain is split

Opinion on whether car tax is fair is divided. Just under half of drivers (46%) think the amount of vehicle tax they pay is fair, 39% think it isn't, and 15% aren't sure.

Younger drivers are the happiest to pay, with 57% of 18- to 24-year-olds calling their tax fair, while over-55s are the most aggrieved (42% say unfair). One theory we have here for the younger drivers is that the car tax cost compared to what they have to pay in insurance is fairly small, making the cost of tax look like a reasonably good deal.

On the question of whether electric cars should pay the same as petrol and diesel equivalents, the public is clearer: 58.5% say yes, 26% say no and 15% are unsure. EV owners are less keen on the idea of course. Only 52% agree, and 40% say electric cars should pay less.

There could also be another connection going on here. The groups most likely to believe their tax maintains the roads, including under-35s and EV owners, are also the most likely to call it fair, while the over-55s and East Midlands drivers who are least convinced the money goes on roads are the most aggrieved.

What the experts say

On the findings, Alex Lee, Senior Digital Marketing Executive at Dick Lovett, said:

"What stood out for us is the gap between how confident people are and how much they know. Two-thirds say they understand car tax well, yet most couldn't tell us whether electric cars pay it, what the expensive car supplement threshold is or what happens to the tax when they sell. These aren't obscure rules. They affect what a car costs to run every single year, and in the case of the supplement, they can add well over £2,000 across five years of ownership.

"The threshold question matters more than people realise. A lot of popular family SUVs and premium cars sit either side of the £40,000 line, and for electric cars the line moved to £50,000 in April 2026. Knowing which side of it your car falls on, and which side a used car fell on when it was new, can be the difference between £200 a year and £640 a year.

"The practical advice is simple. Check your renewal date and set a reminder, keep your V5C somewhere you can find it."

Car tax explained: the rules every driver should know

The survey shows the rules most drivers get wrong, so here is a short guide to each of them. It's correct for the 2026/27 tax year; rates change every April, so check GOV.UK for the current figures.

1. How is car tax calculated? For cars registered since April 2017, it comes in two parts. The first-year rate is based on the car's CO₂ emissions, from £10 for an electric car to £5,690 for the highest emitters. From the second year, every car pays a flat standard rate of £200 a year (2026/27), regardless of fuel type. Cars registered between 2001 and 2017 are taxed in car tax bands set by CO₂ alone, and cars registered before 2001 by engine size. Mileage and the driver's age play no part.
2. The expensive car supplement (the "luxury car tax"). If a car's original list price was over £40,000, an extra £440 a year is added to the standard rate in years two to six, taking the bill to £640 a year. From 1 April 2026, the threshold for fully electric cars rose to £50,000. The supplement follows the car, not the owner, so a used car can still carry it if its list price was above the threshold when new, even if you paid far less for it. If you're looking at a second-hand EV, our guide to buying a used electric car covers what to check before you commit.
3. Electric car tax. Since 1 April 2025, electric cars have paid vehicle tax. New EVs pay £10 in year one, then the £200 standard rate. EVs registered between April 2017 and March 2025 also pay the standard rate. Those registered before April 2017 pay £20. The 2025 first-year road tax changes also reshaped what new petrol and diesel cars pay in their first year. Company car drivers should read our electric car salary sacrifice guide, as benefit-in-kind works differently again. If you're weighing up the switch, our piece on whether electric cars are worth it in 2027 covers the running costs in more detail, and the Dick Lovett EV hub has guides on charging and ownership.
4. What happens to your tax when you sell. Tax no longer transfers with the car. When you tell the DVLA you've sold it (online, using the V5C), your tax is cancelled and you're refunded automatically for any full months remaining. The new owner has to tax the car before they drive it away. If you're thinking of selling your car, it's worth timing the sale so you don't lose a part month. The same applies if you part exchange your car with a dealer.
5. What is SORN? A Statutory Off-Road Notification tells the DVLA your car is being kept off the public road, on a driveway or in a garage, so you don't need to tax or insure it. It's free, you can do it online, and it lasts until you tax the car again. Keep an untaxed car anywhere without a SORN, even on your own drive, and you can be fined.
6. What happens if you don't tax your car. The DVLA's cameras and database flag untaxed cars automatically. You'll get an £80 late licensing penalty (halved if paid promptly), and if it goes to court the fine can reach £1,000. The car can also be clamped and impounded, with release fees on top. Insurance makes no difference.
7. Checking your tax band and renewal date. Both take a minute on GOV.UK. The "check if a vehicle is taxed" tool shows your renewal date from your registration number alone, and the vehicle enquiry service shows the tax band and current rate. If you don't know where your V5C is, order a replacement online for £25 before you need it.

Know your tax before you buy or sell

The headline finding is a simple one: most of us are more confident about car tax than we have any right to be. The rules aren't complicated, but they have changed several times in the past decade, and the cost of getting them wrong, whether that's a fine, a clamp or an unexpected £440 a year on a car you thought was cheaper to run, falls on the driver.

If you're looking at a new car or an approved used car, ask about the tax position before you decide, and if you're unsure which side of the supplement threshold a car falls, our team will tell you. It's a small question that can save you a lot.

_{Censuswide conducted the research among 1,000 UK motorists between 14 and 16 September 2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society and the British Polling Council. City figures are based on smaller sample sizes and should be treated as indicative.}