Drivers to see cost of road tax climb from Monday as fees to ‘stretch finances’

New Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) car tax fees set to be introduced on Monday will “stretch household finances” with some motorists set to pay over £600, according to finance specialists.

Petrol and diesel owners will be impacted across the board with VED fees set to rise in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI) from April 1, 2024.

Bradley Post, Managing Director of finance experts RIFT, stressed motorists will be hit in the pocket by the changes with fees expected to rise by six percent.

The standard rate for petrol and diesel models built after 2017 is predicted to rise by just £10.

However, models registered before 2017 will be affected by a sliding scale of charges with higher fees for those emitting more pollution.

Owners of new cars will be hit with the biggest increases with year one fees set to jump £140 from £2,605 to £2,745 for those emitting more than 255g/km of CO2.

Meanwhile, those who own a car valued at over £40,000 will also be impacted by updates to the Expensive Car Supplement.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Bradley explained: “Along with a raft of other tax-related changes coming this April, motorists are set to see the cost of their road tax climb.

“Previously announced in the Autumn Statement, the Government plans to increase Vehicle Excise Duty, or road tax, in line with inflation.

“It’s not clear exactly what this will equate to yet in terms of pounds and pennies, but the average motorist can expect to see a six percent rise which will cost them roughly £10 more per year.

“However, for those whose cars are classed as luxury and subject to the ‘luxury car’ surcharge, this cost is likely to rise to over £400, which will see them pay as much as £600 a year in road tax.”

The Expensive Car Supplement will issue an added £410 charge on vehicles with a list price of over £40,000.

The fee is imposed for the first five years of a vehicle’s life cycle, coming to an end when a model is six years old.

However, Bradley warned the added costs will still have an impact on many with the cost of motoring still high.

He added: “Of course, those with luxury cars are perhaps better placed to absorb this increase, but even the smallest road tax hike is likely to further stretch the household finances of the nation’s motorists.”