Drivers caught ‘off guard’ by new taxes as older | Tech News

Motorists are being caught “off guard” by new car tax modifications, with sure older automobiles hit with new charges. Cars emitting underneath 100 g/km of CO2 registered between 2001 and 2017 weren’t beforehand charged to make use of the roads.

Over the 2024/25 tax 12 months, street customers certified totally free Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) in a main incentive for homeowners switching to zero or low-emission fashions. However, Labour ended the free street tax rule, with vehicles emitting underneath 100g/km paying £20 per 12 months to get behind the wheel since April 2025.

Andy Wood, tax professional from Tax Barrister UK defined: “The removal of the zero-rate band for cars emitting under 100g/km has caught some drivers off guard because many had become used to paying nothing at all. While £20 may not sound substantial on its own, it reflects a wider shift towards bringing more vehicles into the VED system regardless of emissions performance.”

Cars registered between 2001 and 2017 are charged VED charges primarily based on complete vehicle emissions, with vehicles positioned into one of 13 tax bands. Higher-polluting fashions are most affected, with vehicles paying up to £30 more from April 2026.

Vehicles emitting over 255g/km of CO2 are now charged £790 to get behind the wheel, up on the £760 paid by street customers between 2025/26. Under the new 2026 tax bands, vehicles emitting between 226 and 255g/km of CO2 are paying £760 per 12 months simply to make use of their automobiles.

He mentioned that tax charges for these drivers would “probably keep going up every year” as price rises are inflationary will increase.

Shahzad beforehand pressured: “These are the cars that arguably are treated harshest of all because they fit under a completely different VED regime, one based purely on official CO2 emissions figures from a time when nobody really imagined that those numbers would still matter quite this much.”