Car Tax Calculator
How road tax is calculated
Under the new car tax guidelines laid out in Alistair Darling’s 2010 Budget, cars registered on or after 1st March 2001 are taxed according to their emissions.
For cars registered before 2001, there is one tax rate for engines smaller than and including 1549cc and another for engines larger than this. With newer models, however, annual car tax is based on how green your car is, and tax is split into 13 bands labelled A-M. Cars in band A are the greenest, and therefore have the cheapest tax.
You can find your car’s emission information in the log book, also called a V5 document.
Road tax from April 2010-2011
|
Tax band |
CO2 emissions (g/km) |
Annual rate |
|
A |
Up to 100 |
FREE |
|
B |
101-110 |
£20 |
|
C |
111-120 |
£30 |
|
D |
121-130 |
£90 |
|
E |
131-140 |
£110 |
|
F |
141-150 |
£125 |
|
G |
151-165 |
£155 |
|
H |
166-175 |
£180 |
|
I |
176-185 |
£200 |
|
J |
186-200 |
£215 |
|
K |
201-225 |
£235 |
|
L |
226-255 |
£425 |
|
M |
Over 255 |
£435 |
Under the new guidelines, buyers of newly registered models must now pay a different rate of vehicle tax in the first year. Cars in higher tax bands have a first year rate of up to £950, while owners of new cars releasing 130g/km of CO2 or less do not have to pay anything in the first year. Anyone using a car that emits less than 100g/km of CO2 is exempt from tax completely.
