UK van owners face a £375 annual Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) bill from April 2027 as the Treasury confirms car tax rises in line with RPI inflation
Andy Burnham will be overseeing fresh Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) car tax changes within months, with UK motorists set to be hit with £375 bills. VED rates go up annually in line with Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation, and 2027 is shaping up to be no exception, with Treasury bosses having already confirmed planned increases.
Charges are anticipated to climb across the board for petrol, diesel and electric vehicle drivers, with rises in standard VED rates, first-year charges and even for older motors.
But van drivers are also in the crosshairs, with experts warning fees could jump by as much as £15 per year. Analysis from Pete Barden suggests vans registered on or after March 2001 are set to face steeper costs when the alterations take effect.
Early Euro 4 and Euro 5 compliant vans and pre-2011 electric vans will fork out £140 to use the road, but all other vans will now be slapped with a £375 charge from April 1, up from the existing £360 fee. However, VED inflation for van drivers hasn’t shifted, with motorists facing a £15 hike earlier this spring when rates jumped from £345 to £360 annually.
The Treasury confirmed planned VED price increases in its Budget report, which was published shortly after John Healey’s statement last week. The report stated: “The Government will uprate VED rates for cars, vans and motorcycles in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) from April 1, 2027.”
The news delivers yet another hammer blow to van owners who are already grappling with mounting challenges in 2026.
Soaring petrol and diesel prices are heaping enormous pressure on tradespeople and workers who depend on their vehicles for their livelihoods.
Howard Cox, founder of FairFuelUK, previously issued a stark warning that a typical small van covering 20,000 miles annually would likely face an extra £360 bill in fuel costs due to the price surges.
He cautioned that a small business operating three vans could be shelling out an additional £1,000 or more each year in fuel expenses alone.