Re tax your 2017 or later i3 this month ESPECIALLY if it is not due

[Madelvic]

The tax rules are changing. This from the RAC

EVs registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025 will now have to pay the same standard rate of road tax (now £195 a year) as all other motorists.

However if you renew NOW you can get a year for free

I've just done mine

Didn't have to cancel the old car tax, just applied to tax it today (at zero cost) needing only reg number and 11 digit code off V5

Biggest winners will be those due road tax from April

 

[JamesInLondon]

The tax rules are changing. This from the RAC

EVs registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025 will now have to pay the same standard rate of road tax (now £195 a year) as all other motorists.

However if you renew NOW you can get a year for free

I've just done mine

Didn't have to cancel the old car tax, just applied to tax it today (at zero cost) needing only reg number and 11 digit code off V5

Biggest winners will be those due road tax from April

Rather smug that mine was registered in Feb 2017, particularly as the price was over the £40k threshold.

 

[mojo]

Rather smug that mine was registered in Feb 2017, particularly as the price was over the £40k threshold.

I think it annoys some in the UK that a pre-April 2017 REx with a rattly old petrol engine in it pays £20 a year, while a 2021 BEV pays £195!

But I guess the rest of us accept it as yet another quirk in a tax system that is full of quirks...

The £40k threshold is irrelevant now though - the surcharge only ever applied to the first five years of a car's life.

 

[Madelvic99]

I think it annoys some in the UK that a pre-April 2017 REx with a rattly old petrol engine in it pays £20 a year, while a 2021 BEV pays £195!

But I guess the rest of us accept it as yet another quirk in a tax system that is full of quirks...

The £40k threshold is irrelevant now though - the surcharge only ever applied to the first five years of a car's life.

And the £40k isn't being applied retrospectively, ie only new EVs (and other fuelled vehicles)

 

[Clanduncan]

Not that rattly IMHO, and rarely used on mine. After years of zero road tax status, I'm quite happy to pay road tax, whether it's my £20 or the £195. We all use the roads, and times have changed. Even in the 4+ years I've had my i3, the number of EV's on the road has risen seemingly exponentially, we will all have to pay a share at some point.

 

[electriclightweight]

Not that rattly IMHO, and rarely used on mine. After years of zero road tax status, I'm quite happy to pay road tax, whether it's my £20 or the £195. We all use the roads, and times have changed. Even in the 4+ years I've had my i3, the number of EV's on the road has risen seemingly exponentially, we will all have to pay a share at some point.

Sorry to be pedantic but I hate how the media still say road tax and everyone thinks it's paying directly towards them. It's called vehicle excise duty which is a tax just purely for owning a vehicle. The rate can vary depending on the year, engine size and pollution it puts out. Road tax was abolished in 1937. The money you pay just goes into the main pot of money just like income tax. Essentially we already pay 'road tax' out of our earnings to pay for roads!

 

[mojo]

Sorry to be pedantic but I hate how the media still say road tax and everyone thinks it's paying directly towards them. It's called vehicle excise duty which is a tax just purely for owning a vehicle. The rate can vary depending on the year, engine size and pollution it puts out. Road tax was abolished in 1937. The money you pay just goes into the main pot of money just like income tax. Essentially we already pay 'road tax' out of our earnings to pay for roads!

That may be true, but you can't get away from the fact that as more people move to EVs, the tax income from VED was always going to drop away drastically.

So whether all or only some of VED revenue goes towards the cost of road infrastructure, the continued Zero Rate for EVs was unsustainable. The change was inevitable. The inconsistencies are annoying, but that's just how it is. It would be unrealistic to expect it to change and become completely rational any time soon.

 

[Bat66]

I think it annoys some in the UK that a pre-April 2017 REx with a rattly old petrol engine in it pays £20 a year, while a 2021 BEV pays £195!

But I guess the rest of us accept it as yet another quirk in a tax system that is full of quirks...

The £40k threshold is irrelevant now though - the surcharge only ever applied to the first five years of a car's life.

Well my pre-April 2017 ReX (647cc and 13g/km CO2 - DVLA figures ) also gets stung for London Congestion Charge, while a relative with a Fiat 500 (bigger engine 1242 and more CO2 111g/km ) still goes free.

UK road taxes are all over the place.

 

[oldstumpybiker]

Decided to re-tax my Jan 2016 Rex for £0, even though I think it'll only be £20 when it would have been due in July, why not? I've paid thousands over the 45 years I've been driving so reckon even this small amount is a win. I'll buy a crate of alcohol free Guinness...