Car Tax Check

Check car tax quickly online

What's included in the FREE Car Tax check?

At Car.co.uk, our check car tax service covers everything you need to know – whether you’re wondered is my car taxed, or checking the VED of a vehicle along with when your car tax is due.

Lookup if a vehicle is taxed
Check to see if your car is taxed
Check if car is SORN
Check to see if a car is SORN
See a vehicle’s tax band
Car road tax bands showing VED costs
Compare VED cost
Diagram of road tax costs comparison
See the vehicle tax expiry date
Example of a car's tax expiry date
Show a vehicle’s CO2
co2 emissions of a vehicle for road tax

Check all vehicle excise duty (VED) information online with Car.co.uk free car check

Road tax (officially known as ‘vehicle excise duty’ or VED) probably isn’t the first thing you think of when you hop in your car to travel to work or the supermarket – but it’s an absolutely vital part of staying legal on the road.

In the past, the tax disc in the windscreen of your car told you when your tax expired – but today, there’s often nowhere you can check your tax at a glance. This is why we created a quick and simple way to check car tax online – and it couldn’t be simpler.

All we need is your car’s registration number. That’s it.

With a vehicle’s registration number, we’ll give you all the tax information you need to know about that car. For example, you might wish to check whether or not a vehicle is subject to a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) – or you may just want to know when the current tax runs out.

What else will you see?

The amount of VED road tax you pay depends on a few different things about the car you drive. The good news is, we give you all this information – so you’ll understand everything there is to know about the tax for thatvehicle. Our information includes the CO2 emissions rating for the car and the official DVLA tax band. Of course, you’ll also be able to see if the car is taxed, SORN, and when the VED expires.

Why is car tax so important?

The government uses the money raised from vehicle excise duty to maintain the 260,000 miles of roads around the UK. As such, it’s no surprise to discover that the DVLA and the police take car tax extremely seriously – which means it’s easy to run into hefty fines or find yourself in court if you neglect to tax a car. Some cars are exempt from paying for road tax – but even if your vehicle’s level of emissions or age means there’s no tax to pay, you still have to apply for tax online. Even if there’s no charge – it’s important that you go through this process, as otherwise, your car will be considered ‘untaxed’.

V11 tax check reminder letter from the DVLA

Can I check if a car is SORN?

If a car is used or stored on a public road, it must be taxed – but if it’s not, you may be able to make a Statutory Off-Road Notification; generally referred to as a SORN. When a car is SORN, it cannot be used on the road – but it’s useful for drivers who are repairing or restoring a car, or if the car simply isn’t going to be used for a number of months or years. Our check will let you know if a car is currently registered as SORN. This can be especially helpful if you’re buying a car and you’re not sure if it’s currently being used on the road or not.

Can I check the tax status of a car that doesn't belong to me?

Yes, you can. Since we only need a registration number to carry out a check, you can look at the road tax status of any vehicle. This is useful if you’re considering purchasing a car but you’re not sure how much the tax is going to cost each year or month. It’s also useful if you’re concerned about the emissions of a car and want to check how environmentally friendly your new set of wheels is going to be.

Frequently asked questions

We've covered some common customer car tax questions here – but you're welcome to contact us if you need to know more.

A car tax check is a quick online process that gives you all the tax information you need about a vehicle – including VED expiry date, SORN status, CO2 information, and the official DVLA tax band. With Car.co.uk, you can check car tax information completely free of charge.

Yes, you can. You only need the vehicle's registration number (number plate). When you enter the reg number above, you'll instantly get to see all the road tax information relating to that vehicle.

Yes, they are. The official name for road tax or car tax is 'vehicle excise duty' – so you'll generally see it referred to like this if you use .GOV or DVLA services. Don't worry though; they all refer to the same thing.

Yes, they can. The police have access to all the information held by the DVLA – which means they can quickly (sometimes even automatically) check your car's registration number and instantly see if the car is taxed. You can be fined up to £1,000 for driving an untaxed car – so it's a good idea to check before they do!

You only need the registration of your car, taking from the number plate. The process takes no more than a couple of seconds; enter your registration number, and you'll instantly get to see all the tax information that relates to that car.

Since tax discs were phased out, there's no way that a member of the public can tell if a car is taxed at a glance. However, a quick free check on Car.co.uk will let you know in a matter of seconds – just enter your registration number above!

When you enter your car's registration number above, the resulting report will let you know if the car is taxed, untaxed, or subject to a SORN (statutory off-road notification). Our free tax check is usually much quicker than trying to find old SORN letters from the DVLA!

Yes, they can. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras can instantly check to see if your car is taxed. The 11,000 ANPR cameras around the UK check 50 million number plates daily – so it's absolutely vital to check your car tax to make sure you're up to date and legal.