People with cars made before certain year face 'new tax charge'

People who have cars made before a certain year could be hit with a new £20 charge. Classic car owners and drivers across the country have been warned of new car tax changes with VED fees up by £20 as part of a new rate.

According to finance experts at Pete Barden, VED rates increased by around six per cent this year. Campaigners recently pushed for the historic tax exemption to be lowered to keep historic vehicles on the road ahead of the changes on April 1.

Claire Knight received over 12,500 signatures for the idea which would have seen the exemption lowered to just 20 years. It would have meant any cars registered before April 2004 would not pay tax fees in a dramatic rule change.

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Claire said: “There are vehicles within the 20 to 40 year age bracket that are well-loved, modern classics and without a reduction in tax, we may see these vehicles disappear from our roads.” But the government rejected the petition.

The governent warned the threshold would lead to “significantly more vehicles being categorised as classic cars” which would impact government coffers. They added: “The Government has no plans to reduce the tax exemption age for classic cars from 40 to 20 years.

"While the Government keeps all taxes under review, we consider 40 years a fair cut-off date.” You can apply to stop paying for vehicle tax from 1 April 2024 if your vehicle was built before 1 January 1984. You must tax your vehicle even if you do not have to pay.

If you do not know when your vehicle was built, but it was first registered before 8 January 1984, you can still apply to stop paying vehicle tax. Your vehicle will not be exempt from vehicle tax if it’s used for hire or reward (for example, it’s used as a taxi for paying customers) or if it’s used commercially for a trade or business, though.