Treasury dealt blow as thousands of EV drivers use tax loophole
Newsletter issue – December 2025
Electric vehicle drivers exploited a loophole to secure another year of tax-free motoring, costing the Treasury millions. Early renewals surged by 1,400% compared to the previous year, costing the Treasury about £30 million in lost revenue.
Around 300,000 electric car owners renewed their registrations early with the DVLA before April 2025. This allowed them to avoid the new Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) charge of £195 per year that applies to EVs registered after 2017 once their first year exemption ends.
The National Audit Office (NAO) criticised the DVLA for failing to anticipate the rush. It argued that better planning could have helped the Treasury forecast the impact before ending EV tax exemptions.
Ministers plan to introduce a new "VED+" system in 2028. This will be a 3p-per-mile charge where drivers estimate mileage and pay upfront. If they drive fewer miles, unused credit rolls over. If they exceed the estimate, they must pay extra. Treasury figures suggest a typical EV driver could be £250 worse off per year under this scheme. The reform is intended to replace declining fuel duty revenues as more motorists switch to electric.
What our clients say about us...
"Paul has provided accountancy services to my company for 2 years now. I can recommend Paul very highly; his skills as an accountant are highly detailed and professional and he is always available to provide advice. One aspect of the way Paul works that I greatly appreciate is a preference to meet face to face when there is a detailed conversation to be had. I personally find this more productive and is a benefit of working with a small accountancy firm that you wouldn't get with the large faceless providers."
ALISTAIR FAIRWEATHER - PROGRAMME & PROJECT MANAGER, DELIVERING/RESCUING I.T. 7 BUSINESS CHANGE WITH BUDGETS UPTO £50M INC SUPPIER MANAGEMENT
"I couldn't ask for more from Paul as an Accountant. Paul has been accountant to Work Relief Charity Recruitment for just over a year now and is proving an invaluable asset. Accurate, knowledgeable, flexible with an emphasis on service delivery, I would recommend Paul's services to any organisation looking for an accounts professional."
Neil Price - Managing Director at Work Relief Charity Recruitment
"Paul was a referral from a family member when I started my business 2 years ago. As this was the first time I had ever run my own company I was totally clueless over the financial side of matters and was worried that I may have made mistakes in any of my accounting. I needn't have worried as after enaging Paul for a set monthly fee he was always there on the end of the phone for all sorts of questions I had and no matter how trivial they were Paul gave me all the information I required and more and did an excellent and painless job at the end of my first year! Couldn't ask for any better to be honest. Just two words - hire him!!!"
Lee Westrap MBCS - Director - Bulldog IT Services
Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer when you visit a website. They are mainly used as a way of improving the website functionalities or to provide more advanced statistical data.








