How long does the VED surcharge last for over £40K vehicles?

[normnortonocean]

My Coast was registered on 01/03/2020, so just before the Motorcaravan designation, and as a diesel car it attracted the over £40k value VED surcharge.

I paid a surcharge, along with the first year's registration in March 2020, and was expecting the £40k surcharge to run for five years in total, i.e. 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. I was surprised/upset to see this year's VED cost, for March 2025 to be £600, so the £40 surcharge is still there. That means it is not a five year surcharge, as everyone seems to quote, but it lasts for six years.

Probably if I dig deeply into the DVLA web pages there might be an answer, but I hope that someone here is better informed than me and knows the answer straight away.

 

[CampervanFlattie]

I believe it’s 5 years after the first year which is at a different rate and paid upon first registration of the vehicle.

 

[Kevin5658]

I have 2018 Cali just taxed it at lower rate the first of feb
First registered 06/04/2018. Additional rate of VED until the 31/03/2024. Yes 6 years.

 

[Alan Andrews]

Sorry to rub salt in to this wound.

Just bought new 2024 reg Grand California 600 3.88T.

The first year motor tax is ...........£165 for the whole year!

 

[pjm-84]

March 2027 for you...... then on it will be standard rate.

2020 - 2021 - First year rate
21 - 22 - 1st year
22 - 23 - 2nd year
23 - 24 - 3rd year
24 - 25 - 4th year
25 - 26 - 5th year
27 >>>>>> standard rate

 

[Do we or don't we]

Sorry to rub salt in to this wound.

Just bought new 2024 reg Grand California 600 3.88T.

The first year motor tax is ...........£165 for the whole year!

That was helpful

 

[scottk]

March 26 you will be cheaper. My car is Oct 2019 so looking forward to a cheaper renewal this year!

 

[B J G]

My Coast was registered on 01/03/2020, so just before the Motorcaravan designation, and as a diesel car it attracted the over £40k value VED surcharge.

I paid a surcharge, along with the first year's registration in March 2020, and was expecting the £40k surcharge to run for five years in total, i.e. 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. I was surprised/upset to see this year's VED cost, for March 2025 to be £600, so the £40 surcharge is still there. That means it is not a five year surcharge, as everyone seems to quote, but it lasts for six years.

Probably if I dig deeply into the DVLA web pages there might be an answer, but I hope that someone here is better informed than me and knows the answer straight away.

As you say first year then the following 5 years giving 6 years total.

Also annoying as it is based on the List Price not what you actually purchase the vehicle for as in my case a £4K discount made car purchase price of £39K but still have to pay the extra tax.

 

[andyinluton]

It also depends if the dealer has pre registered / demos the van. It's actually the first five years of tax renewals.
ie If the dealer pays the first years tax and cashes it in a month later, the new owner buys & taxes straight away and will pay the supplement 5 times so at 5 years 1 month the van will be free of the extra charge.

 

[B J G]

It also depends if the dealer has pre registered / demos the van. It's actually the first five years of tax renewals.
ie If the dealer pays the first years tax and cashes it in a month later, the new owner buys & taxes straight away and will pay the supplement 5 times so at 5 years 1 month the van will be free of the extra charge.

Negative being when selling you are the second owner which can detract from the value.
Warranty terms also need checking as the usual UK 3 year warranty may not apply.

 

[normnortonocean]

Thanks everyone, Ok so it is five years BEYOND the first year surcharge - so it is a six year tax.

 

[Jon A]

I don't think it's a simple rule. You can check for your own vehicle when the higher rate ends by looking at the gov' website and putting your registration in:

Check if a vehicle is taxed

Check and report if a vehicle has up-to-date vehicle tax or is 'off road' (SORN)

www.gov.uk

After telling you the vehicle is taxed, there is a lot of extra vehicle info. At the bottom is end date for "Additional Rate applicable until "

In my case I bought new and the van was registered 19 Nov 2019. My additional rates ends 28 Feb 2025. So 5 years and 5 months of higher rate. So neither 5 or 6 years for me. I can't fully explain that, but I suspect it might be something related to the vehicle having been SORNed for a month of two several times over the years.

 

[Jon A]

At the moment my tax is due to run out end of April and I was charged the full elevated amount for all of the 12 months when I last renewed. So I suspect there is no pro-rata-ing when it tell you how much to pay when taxing online.

If you wanted to be cute I suspect you could online SORN your vehicle near the end of it's last higher rate month, get a refund cheque in the post, wait a few days for the new month to roll-over and then retax on the 1st at the lower rate.
For me it isn't worth testing that because I assume my next renewal in April will be at the lower rate.

However if there really isn't any pro-rata system and you got really unlucky on your dates, I suspect you could pay up to 11 months "extra" at the high rate.

 

[Perfectos]

Negative being when selling you are the second owner which can detract from the value.
Warranty terms also need checking as the usual UK 3 year warranty may not apply.

Not sure VW being the first Owner would Devalue a Vehicle
, particularly if the 1st owner has the vehicle serviced via Main dealer?

It didn't affect my T5 caravelle when I sold it.

Generally I'd say if the vehicle is 3+ years old, covered by Extended warranty & serviced in line with VW requirement then then why would the 2nd or third owner have an issue ?

Otherwise surely they would want to be the first owner?

Do buyers of three to seven year old vehicles really consider deduction of Value for being the second or third owner?

Edit looking at the for sales / sold vehicles that's not an issue I see don't see it being noteworthy, maybe on a less than 12 month old vehicle (I.e three owners in thd first year)