Drivers are bracing themselves for a hefty £1,732 increase in car tax charges due to significant changes to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates this year. If current sales trends persist, van drivers will fork out an additional £15.5 million in VED rates within the first six months of the new tax year.
This follows dramatic revisions to first-year VED fees from April 2025, with prices expected to skyrocket for thousands of motorists. Go Compare's analysis revealed that diesel van owners will bear the brunt of the increases, closely followed by petrol models.
New diesel buyers could face a sharp average hike of £1,807 per vehicle in the first half of the new tax year. The study showed that new diesel van owners will cough up an extra £14.2 million in tax during this period.
An additional £1.2 million will be generated from new petrol van purchases, resulting in an annual bill of £1,354 more per petrol van. However, motorists with cleaner, more efficient vans will also see rises from the Spring, albeit at a noticeably lower rate.
Hybrid van drivers will only have to shell out an extra £252 towards their annual tax charges. This is a staggering £1,500 less than diesel van drivers, highlighting a stark contrast between cleaner and combustion models, reports the Express.
Tom Banks, a motoring expert at Go Compare, emphasised that road users could avoid these eye-watering price hikes by switching their fuel type before the new charges kick in.
He warned: "The increased VED rates will result in a big hit if you buy a brand-new van later this year, but there are things you can do to absorb the blow. The tax rates are based on CO2 emissions, so if you're able to, this is a good time to switch to a van using cleaner fuels in the cheaper tax bands."
The team at Go Compare van insurance drew up a fresh analysis, their boffins worked with figures from the Department for Transport. They scrutinised van registration stats from private owners in the first half of the 2024 tax year before slapping the new VED rates on top to suss out the extra dosh drivers will have to cough up.
