Car Tax in Northern Ireland 2026/27: Petrol, Diesel, Hybrid and Electric VED Rates Explained
Vehicle tax in Northern Ireland is administered by DVLA and follows UK VED rules. This guide explains the £200 standard rate, first-year CO2 bands, EV tax, hybrids and the expensive-car supplement.
Car tax in Northern Ireland is easy to misunderstand because driver licensing and MOT testing are handled locally by DVA, while Vehicle Excise Duty is administered by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea for HM Treasury.
That means Northern Ireland motorists use the same core VED framework as the rest of the UK. What you pay depends heavily on when the car was first registered, its emissions, fuel type and — for newer vehicles — its original list price.
The standard rate for newer cars is £200
For cars registered on or after 1 April 2017, the current standard annual rate from the second licence onward is £200 for petrol, diesel, electric and alternative-fuel cars under the 2026/27 table, subject to additional-rate rules.
Paying monthly by Direct Debit costs more over the year: the current table shows £210 in total. Six-month options also have their own amounts.
First-year tax is based on CO2
A brand-new car's first licence is different. Current 2026/27 rates start at £10 for 0g/km and rise steeply with emissions. For the petrol/RDE2-diesel/alternative-fuel column, examples include £115 at 1-50g/km, £365 at 91-100g/km, £1,410 at 131-150g/km and £5,690 above 255g/km.
Some diesel cars that do not meet the required RDE2 standard pay a higher first-year rate in several emissions bands.
Used buyers usually care about the post-first-year rate
If you are buying a three-year-old car, the original first-year CO2 charge has already been paid. The more relevant questions are the current standard rate and whether the expensive-car supplement still applies.
What is the expensive-car supplement?
The 2026/27 rules add £440 a year for five years from the second licence to qualifying cars above the applicable original list-price threshold. For petrol/diesel cars the threshold is more than £40,000. For qualifying zero-emission cars the threshold is more than £50,000 under the current rules.
The trap for used buyers is that the calculation uses the car's original published list price, not today's second-hand value. A car bought used for £28,000 can still be inside an additional-rate period because it cost more than the threshold when new.
Electric cars are no longer tax-free
From 1 April 2025, electric vehicles entered the VED system. Current guidance says EVs registered on or after 1 April 2025 pay £10 for the first year and then £200. EVs registered from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2025 pay the standard £200 rate. Different rules apply to older zero-emission vehicles.
What happened to the hybrid discount?
The previous £10 annual alternative-fuel discount has been removed. For a hybrid registered on or after 1 April 2017, the standard rate is now £200 under the current table, again subject to other applicable rules.
Cars registered before April 2017
Older cars can sit under emissions-based legacy VED bands, so the £200 standard-rate rule should not be applied blindly to every used car on sale. Check the registration date and official tax rate for the individual vehicle.
Historic vehicles
Historic-vehicle tax rules are separate from MOT testing exemption. A qualifying older vehicle may be eligible for the historic tax class, but owners should check current DVLA eligibility rather than assuming that being '40 years old' automatically updates the tax record without action.
SORN
If a vehicle is kept off the public road and not taxed, a Statutory Off Road Notification may be required. SORN does not mean the car can be left or driven on a public road.
EV mileage tax from 2028
The government has published legislation/policy for Electric Vehicle Excise Duty from 1 April 2028. The published measure sets a mileage-based charge of 3p per mile for battery-electric and hydrogen cars, with a separate rate for plug-in hybrids. That is in addition to the importance of checking whatever VED rules apply at the time.
Used-car tax checklist
- Check the first-registration date.
- Check the current official VED rate.
- For post-2017 cars, establish the original list price if the expensive-car supplement may apply.
- Do not assume an EV is tax-free.
- Remember vehicle tax does not transfer with the car when ownership changes.
MOT and tax are separate systems
Northern Ireland's MOT is administered by DVA while tax is administered by DVLA. If you need to check the testing side, use PureCar's Northern Ireland MOT tools or MOT status/history checker.
