Check car tax: the free official route, and what it reveals besides tax
Whether a vehicle is taxed is a public fact, checkable free on GOV.UK against the DVLA's own record with nothing but the registration number. The same query returns the MOT expiry and the vehicle's registered details (make, colour, engine size, fuel type, date of first registration) which quietly makes it the fastest free way to confirm a car you are viewing is the car the record describes. A mismatch on colour or engine size is a plate or identity question, and it is a walk-away signal before any money moves.
- median advertised price of a single full car check
- £14.99
- vendors with a verified published price
- 2
- check types with measured demand
- 2
Figures on this page come from the KnownVehicle Car Check Price Index: 2 vendors with a verified published price, median advertised single full check £14.99, checked against each vendor's own page.
- 2 vendor product pages verifiedevery figure matched verbatim to the vendor's page
- Quoted and dated, never estimatedlast verification pass 2026-08-26
- 2 check types coveredeach with measured search demand behind it
Advertised prices, verified
| Vendor | Full check | Basic check | 3-check bundle | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Car Check | £9.99/check | £3.99/check | £14.99/3 checks | totalcarcheck.co.uk | August 2026 |
| HPI Check | £19.99/check | £9.99/check | £29.99/3 checks | home.hpicheck.com | August 2026 |
What the free tax check tells a buyer
- Tax status and expiry. The record shows whether the vehicle is taxed or declared off-road (SORN) and when the current tax runs out. Tax does not transfer with a sale: the buyer must tax the vehicle before driving it away, so the status you are really checking is SORN: a car on SORN cannot legally be driven to meet you.
- MOT expiry on the same screen. The tax check returns the MOT expiry date alongside, so one free query confirms both legal essentials. An expired MOT on a car advertised as ready to drive is a seller honesty test you get for nothing.
- The registered details, as an identity check. Make, model, colour, engine size, fuel type and first registration date all come back from the DVLA record. Stand next to the car and compare: a blue car recorded as silver, or a 1.6 recorded as a 2.0, means the plate does not belong to the vehicle in front of you.
- What it deliberately does not return. Nothing about the keeper. The record describes the vehicle, and no public check identifies an owner from a registration: the lawful route, with reasonable cause, is DVLA form V888. Any site offering owner details from a plate is selling something other than the official record.
Where the free check ends and the paid checks begin
The DVLA record answers is it taxed, is it MOT'd, and is it the car it claims to be. It holds nothing on outstanding finance, insurance write-offs or theft: those live with the finance houses, the insurers and the Police National Computer, and reading them is what the paid products in the table above charge for at the verified prices shown.
Run the free checks first, always. They cost nothing, they take a minute each, and between tax status, registered details and the MOT history they eliminate a meaningful share of bad purchases before a penny is spent. The paid check is for the vehicle that passes them and is worth real money.
Checking tax as a seller or owner
Owners use the same free query to confirm a tax payment has registered, to check when tax or MOT falls due, and to confirm a SORN declaration took effect. The record is the DVLA's own, so what it shows is what the DVLA believes: if you paid and the record disagrees, that is a DVLA conversation, and the record is the evidence you start it with.
When selling, expect a serious buyer to have run this check before viewing. A listing whose photographed plate returns mismatched details, or a SORN'd car advertised for test drives, loses the buyer at the first free query: accuracy in the advert is cheaper than the explanation.
Common questions
- How do I check if a car is taxed?
- Free on GOV.UK: the vehicle enquiry service returns tax status and expiry from the DVLA's own record, with MOT expiry and the registered vehicle details on the same result, from just the registration number.
- Does car tax transfer when I buy a car?
- No. Tax ends when the keeper changes; the buyer must tax the vehicle before driving it away, which can be done online at the point of sale with the V5C reference. The free check tells you the current status, not what transfers: nothing does.
- Can I find the owner of a car from its registration?
- Not through any public check: the record returns facts about the vehicle only. Where there is reasonable cause to contact a keeper, DVLA form V888 is the lawful route; services claiming to sell owner names from plates are not reading the official record.
- What does the tax check not cover?
- Outstanding finance, write-off history and stolen markers: the three facts that live outside DVLA records. Those are what the paid checks in the table above add, at the advertised prices shown, each verified against the vendor's own page.
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Cite or embed this figure
The median advertised price of a single full car check in the GB car check market was £14.99 in August 2026, across 2 verified vendor product pages recorded in KnownVehicle Car Check Price Index.
Cite as: "KnownVehicle Car Check Price Index", updated 2026-08-26, https://knownvehicle.com/check-car-tax/.