First Year Road Tax

First Year Road Tax (or 'Showroom Tax') was introduced into the UK on 1st April 2010: it is effectively the Road Tax Price you will pay in the first year only of ownership of a brand new car. The question of whether the new First Year Rate will be friend or foe depends on the emissions of the new car you buy. The tax penalises high emission cars and encourages ownership of low emission Road Tax Band A to Band D cars (for a full list of these cars read Free First Year Road Tax) which, under the new legislation, will be FREE to drive in the UK for the first year in terms of Road Tax.

We’ve summarised details for Band A to Band D below - these are the cars that qualify for FREE 1st year road tax - plus highlighted our Road Tax key cars in each band. Please note, these prices are valid from 1.4.2012 following the Chancellor's announcement at the Budget that prices would rise in line with inflation.

	Supermini	Small Family	Family
Band A
	Ford Fiesta ECOnetic	VW Golf Bluemotion S/S	Toyota Prius
	CO2:	First Year Road Tax:	Ongoing Annual Road Tax:
Band A	Upto 100 g/km	Free	£0
	Supermini	Small Family	Compact Exec
Band B
	Peugeot 107	Audi A3 1.6TDI	BMW 320d ED
	CO2	First Year Road Tax:	Ongoing Annual Road Tax:
Band B	101 - 110 g/km	Free	£20
	Supermini	Small MPV	Family
Band C
	Fiat 500 1.2i	Nissan Note 1.5dCI	VW Passat Bluemotion S/S
	CO2	First Year Road Tax:	Ongoing Annual Road Tax:
Band C	111 - 120 g/km	Free	£30
	MPV	Crossover	Compact Exec
Band D
	Citroen C3 Picasso 1.6HDi	Nissan Qashqai 1.5 dCi	Mercedes-Benz C220 CDI
	CO2	First Year Road Tax:	Ongoing Annual Road Tax:
Band D	121 - 130 g/km	Free	£100

However for high polluting cars like Sports, Executive and 4x4s, the First Year Tax increase could run into hundreds of pounds. For example, a new Band M car registered after 1st April 2012 will be hit with a first year rate of £1,030, compared with the previous level of £405 in 2010. The remaining First Year Road Tax price bands are below:

	CO2	12/13 First Year Rate	12/13 Standard Road Tax
Band E	131 - 140 g/km	£120	£120
Band F	141 - 150 g/km	£135	£135
Band G	151 - 165 g/km	£170	£170
Band H	166 - 175 g/km	£275	£195
Band I	176 - 185 g/km	£325	£215
Band J	186 - 200 g/km	£460	£250
Band K	201 - 225 g/km	£600	£270
Band L	226 - 255 g/km	£815	£460
Band M	Above 256 g/km	£1,030	£475