From April 1
st there are some big changes in road tax rates and if you're looking to buy a new car, you need to know this as you could be paying out a lot more than you're expecting to, especially in the first year.
If you're buying an alternatively fuelled car such as a car that runs on bioethanol or LPG then you're looking at a £10 reduction in your first year and a flat rate of £140 a year after that. However, for most of us, the first year price is going to be higher. After that you'll be paying the standard £140 a year rate.
These new rates apply to all cars registered after 1
st April 2017. If your car was registered before this date then the changes won't affect you.
No longer do you get free road tax for low emissions. Now you'll only get free road tax for no emissions. So electric vehicles will still be exempt.
Let's take a look at the road tax bands that will be in place from April 1
st...
| Emissions (g/km of CO2) |
First year rate |
Standard rate |
| 0 |
£0 |
£0 |
| 1-50 |
£10 |
£140 (£130 for alternative fuel source) |
| 51-75 |
£25 |
| 76-90 |
£100 |
| 91-100 |
£120 |
| 101-110 |
£140 |
| 111-130 |
£160 |
| 131-150 |
£200 |
| 151-170 |
£500 |
| 171-190 |
£800 |
| 191-225 |
£1,200 |
| 226-255 |
£1,700 |
| Over 255 |
£2,000 |
That's not all you need to consider. There's also a new five-year supplement for any cars that cost over £40,000. This new tax is set at £310. This will be payable every year for five years and is in addition to the £140 standard tax rate.
So what does all this mean? Well there will be less cars that are exempt from road tax. Anyone buying a small economical car could be looking at paying around nine times more for road tax than before the changes. For cars with greater emissions, you'll still be paying more than those with lower emissions, but less than you would be for cars registered before the road tax changes.
It's certainly worth doing your research if you're in the market for a new car. It might be a wise decision to buy a nearly-new car instead that has been registered prior to April 1st. It could save you a lot of money.
From April 1st there are some big changes in road tax rates and if you're looking to buy a new car, you need to know this as you could be paying out a lot more than you're expecting to, especially in the first year.
If you're buying an alternatively fuelled car such as a car that runs on bioethanol or LPG then you're looking at a £10 reduction in your first year and a flat rate of £140 a year after that. However, for most of us, the first year price is going to be higher. After that you'll be paying the standard £140 a year rate.
These new rates apply to all cars registered after 1st April 2017. If your car was registered before this date then the changes won't affect you.
No longer do you get free road tax for low emissions. Now you'll only get free road tax for no emissions. So electric vehicles will still be exempt.
Let's take a look at the road tax bands that will be in place from April 1st...
