Delay paying £190 car tax on EV until April 2026 (action needed before the end of March 2025)

[REDLeader]

Can this post not be pinned to the top till the end of the month.

 

[Alb]

Good idea, I've made it a sticky and modified the title.

 

[Rolfe]

Turns out the clarinet players in our orchestra (a married couple) just paid their tax when their letter came earlier in the month. Honestly, a couple of PhD academics and it took me ten minutes of explanation followed by an email to get the message through, but they finally got it.

 

[Buster72]

Hi, in April 2025, EV cars switch from £0 per year car tax to £190. If your car is registered in March, you'll avoid paying it next year. But if registered in April, May or after, you just miss the cut-off and will pay £190 on renewal next year.

This method delays it for a year to March 2026. You pay £0 now, £0 in March 2025 then £190 in March 2026. The £190 payment starts on 1 April 2025.

I went to the "tax your car" government website, and re-taxed mine. You need the V5C registration document 11 digit code, I clicked on "I don't have a tax renewal letter" and agreed "I know I'm taxing it before I have to". But I re-taxed it early, in March instead of June, at a cost of £0.

It took a couple of days to update, but checking on my car's tax status, it has now switched renewal from 1 June 2024 to 1 March 2025, so therefore I avoid paying £190 for a year.

It took 5 mins, and I recommend doing it, there's no reason for everyone whose tax (currently £0) is due after April in 're-taxing' now for £0 and delaying the payment of £190 for a year. But it HAS to be done in March, ie now. The car tax web site warns you you will be paying twice by taxing early - but you just pay £0.00 twice!

I got this off an MG facebook group where they're all doing it, i tried it and it worked. You don't need to SORN the car for a day which some people thought.

Martin

Just came across this and well done.
To be clear. If your car was first registered before March; in my case at the end of January 23, there is no benefit in doing this?
Because the road tax will be due before 1st April 25 and hence still zero until it becomes due in 26.

 

[Rolfe]

You'll extend your free road tax by a couple of months, even so.

 

[siteguru]

Well, only a month in @Buster72's case. (Was due 01 Feb, using this technique = now due 01 Mar).

 

[Rolfe]

He said it was registered in January.

 

[Buster72]

Well, only a month in @Buster72's case. (Was due 01 Feb, using this technique = now due 01 Mar).

Correct. Just checked the 2023 tax and it was due on 01 February.

 

[Rolfe]

Well, not much advantage for you. I got 11 months.

 

[Gomev]

Just came across this and well done.
To be clear. If your car was first registered before March; in my case at the end of January 23, there is no benefit in doing this?
Because the road tax will be due before 1st April 25 and hence still zero until it becomes due in 26.

Mine was a Jan reg with tax due same time, i.e. Jan 1st. I have done mine for March just for the hell of it, saved a couple of months in theory £36 but not really just a delay.

 

[emmadragon]

I did mine, although the renewal was already 01 Feb 2025. I figure the money's better in my pocket than that of the government, even for a month. Never would have known if it wasn't for the forum, so thanks to everyone who posted it.

 

[siteguru]

I see the thread title now says £190 ... is that confirmed? (I thought it was £180).

 

[Mike Ferguson]

Hi, in April 2025, EV cars switch from £0 per year car tax to £190. If your car is registered in March, you'll avoid paying it next year. But if registered in April, May or after, you just miss the cut-off and will pay £190 on renewal next year.

This method delays it for a year to March 2026. You pay £0 now, £0 in March 2025 then £190 in March 2026. The £190 payment starts on 1 April 2025.

I went to the "tax your car" government website, and re-taxed mine. You need the V5C registration document 11 digit code, I clicked on "I don't have a tax renewal letter" and agreed "I know I'm taxing it before I have to". But I re-taxed it early, in March instead of June, at a cost of £0.

It took a couple of days to update, but checking on my car's tax status, it has now switched renewal from 1 June 2024 to 1 March 2025, so therefore I avoid paying £190 for a year.

It took 5 mins, and I recommend doing it, there's no reason for everyone whose tax (currently £0) is due after April in 're-taxing' now for £0 and delaying the payment of £190 for a year. But it HAS to be done in March, ie now. The car tax web site warns you you will be paying twice by taxing early - but you just pay £0.00 twice!

I got this off an MG facebook group where they're all doing it, i tried it and it worked. You don't need to SORN the car for a day which some people thought.

Martin

Thank you. It took me less than 5 minutes to follow your excellent advice.

Mike

 

[Ian Key]

I see the thread title now says £190 ... is that confirmed? (I thought it was £180).

I did too.

From the Chorley Group's web site.

If you're looking for a quick summary of the changes coming from April 2025, here it is:

Any EVs registered on or after 1/4/25 will need to pay the lowest first-year rate of VED of £10
From the second year, this will change to the standard rate of £180 per year
This standard rate will also apply to any zero-emission cars registered between 1/4/17 to 31/3/25
The Expensive Car Supplement for EVs will also be scrapped come 2025, impacting models listed above £40,000
Zero and low-emission cars (electric and hybrid) registered between 1/3/01 and 30/3/17 in Band A will transition to the Band B rate, which is £20 per year
Electric van owners will be required to pay the same rate as petrol or diesel light goods - which is £290 per year
Electric motorcycles or bikes will only need to pay for their small engines, which is set at £22 per year

 

[JeffMcC75]

If anyone has their car tax renewal in April or the months following you can cancel it in early March 2025 and go SORN for a day, and then restart it the day after for 12 months at the £NIL rating so you wont have to start paying tax until 2026. Saw this advice on Martin Lewis show.

 

[Rolfe]

I think people are a bit worried some clever-clogs will close that loophole some time in the next year.

 

[Archev]

I think people are a bit worried some clever-clogs will close that loophole some time in the next year.

It’s a nagging doubt isn’t it.

 

[siteguru]

For us that have already used this scheme then there's no concern - there's nothing they can do about it; our vehicles are legally taxed through to the relevant date (end of February 2025), so when we renew next year we'll be taxed through to end of February 2026. The chance that they'll change the effective date for the new taxation values (from 1 April '25 to, say, 1 January ;25) is remote to non-existent.

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, but it's a reason to get it done now and not bank on doing it in a year's time. Hopefully it will still work then, but it might not.

 

[Ian Key]

For us that have already used this scheme then there's no concern - there's nothing they can do about it; our vehicles are legally taxed through to the relevant date (end of February 2025), so when we renew next year we'll be taxed through to end of February 2026. The chance that they'll change the effective date for the new taxation values (from 1 April '25 to, say, 1 January ;25) is remote to non-existent.

I agree. The government have enough going on without closing a "loophole" that will disappear in a years time.