Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates will be increasing from 1st April 2020.

Find out why and what you can do to avoid paying more for your car.

What Is The April 2020 Road Tax Increase (VED) And How Will It Affect You?

One way of beating the tax increase is by knowing exactly what it is and why it's happening in the first place. Here's everything you need to know about the road tax (VED) changes set to take course on 1st April 2020.

What exactly are the VED / Road Tax increases?

If you're a driver in the UK, you'll know that you have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty or road fund licence (commonly called car tax or road tax). The amount you pay will depend on factors such as engine size, fuel type and the amount of CO2 emissions your vehicle generates at the time it is first registered.

You can now understand why diesel car owners usually have to pay a higher rate of VED than petrol users, and why electric vehicle owners are exempt from paying car road tax entirely. In simple terms, the lower your CO2 emissions are, the lower the rate of your vehicle excise duty.

Previously, this was measured through the New European Driving Cycle test (NEDC) which was first developed in the 90's and last updated in 1997. However, with the rise in advanced technology in the last decade, NEDC testing has become outdated and is no longer truly representative of real-life driving.

Instead, a new method of testing called Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) replaces it. The new WLTP method is able to determine a more realistic evaluation of your vehicle's official fuel consumption (mpg), driving range and CO2 emissions (g/km).

As a result, your vehicle's CO2 emission output will change, placing it in a higher tax band to its current rate, causing an increase in the cost of your road fund licence for the first year.

When is Road Tax set to increase?

The change will be introduced on 1st April 2020 for Vehicle Excise Duty and 6th April 2020 for Benefit-in-Kind on Company Car Tax. The change will only affect your first year's Vehicle Excise Duty payment when you buy and register a new vehicle after these dates.

Why is Road Tax increasing?

The new WLTP method reflects a more accurate representation of your vehicle's emissions and fuel economy.

What Tax Band is my car in?

Of course you're now wondering what this all means for you. Using the table below, you will be able to calculate which tax band your vehicle would be in if you were to buy it after 1st April 2020:

VED Band	CO2 Emissions (g/km)	First-Year Rate	First-Year Rate for non-RDE2 Diesels	Alternative Fuel Vehicles
A	0	£0	£0	£0
B	1 - 50	£10	£25	£0
C	51 - 75	£25	£110	£15
D	76 - 90	£110	£130	£100
E	91 - 100	£130	£150	£120
F	101 - 110	£150	£170	£140
G	111 - 130	£170	£210	£160
H	131 - 150	£210	£530	£200
I	151 - 170	£530	£855	£520
J	171 - 190	£855	£1,280	£845
K	191 - 225	£1,280	£1,815	£1,270
L	226 - 255	£1,815	£2,135	£1,805
M	Over 255	£2,135	£2,135	£2,125

How can I ‘Beat the Tax increase’?

Buying your new ŠKODA before the April 2020 road tax increases could save you a fair bit of money on the first year of Vehicle Excise Duty. Take our example of the ŠKODA KODIAQ which encounters the biggest VED increase of the ŠKODA range.

So if you're considering buying a new ŠKODA, doing so before 1st April 2020 could save you up to £960.

Model	Maximum VED increase after 1st April 2020	Maximum VED Rate after 1st April 2020
ŠKODA CITIGO	£0	£0
ŠKODA FABIA	£20	£170
ŠKODA SCALA	£360	£530
ŠKODA OCTAVIA	£645	£1280
ŠKODA KAMIQ	£320	£530
ŠKODA KAROQ	£750	£1280
ŠKODA SUPERB	£750	£1815
ŠKODA SUPERB iV	£0	£0
ŠKODA KODIAQ	£960	£1815