Vehicle Excise Duty

<p>Vehicle Excise Duty (VED; also known as "vehicle tax",  "car tax", and "road tax", formerly as a "tax disc"), is an annual tax in in the United Kingdom that is levied as an <a href="/facts/Excise/v8FNeMsN">excise</a> <a href="/facts/Duty_(tax)/GjkCp9YR">duty</a>. The VED must be paid for most types of powered vehicles which are to be used or parked on <a href="/facts/Public_road/2nxmEmgX">public roads</a>. Registered vehicles that are not being used or parked on public roads and which have been taxed since 31 January 1998 must be covered by a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) to avoid VED. In 2016, VED generated approximately £6 <a href="/facts/Billion/d9KjEYSt">billion</a> for the <a href="/facts/Exchequer/rJaqPIGc">Exchequer</a>.
</p><p>A vehicle tax was first introduced in Britain in 1888. <a href="/facts/Finance_Act/HYxqrtns">In 1920</a>, an excise duty was introduced that specifically applied to motor vehicles; initially it was <a href="/facts/Hypothecated_tax/hkTh8yXo">hypothecated</a> (ring-fenced or earmarked) for road construction and paid directly into a special <a href="/facts/Road_Fund/KPKmNXtC">Road Fund</a>. After 1937, this reservation of vehicle revenue for roads was ended, and instead the revenue was paid into the <a href="/facts/Consolidated_Fund/g2fggB0N">Consolidated Fund</a> – the general pot of money held by government. Since then, maintenance of the UK road network has been funded out of general taxation, of which VED is a part.
</p>

Vehicle Excise Duty open-in-new

Vehicle Excise Duty