The April 2026 Vehicle Excise Duty changes have left thousands of electric car owners either double-charged or paying incorrect rates. If you taxed your EV between April and July 2026, there’s a decent chance you’re owed money back from the DVLA.
The chaos stems from the introduction of VED for zero-emission vehicles for the first time, combined with a botched IT system update that didn’t properly account for vehicles taxed before the new rates took effect. Some owners paid the old zero rate in March, then were automatically charged the new £195 standard rate in April. Others paid the expensive car supplement (the £425 annual charge for vehicles with a list price over £40,000) when their car didn’t actually qualify.
Who qualifies for a refund
You’re likely owed money if any of these apply to you:
You paid for 12 months of tax before 1st April 2026 at the zero rate, then were charged again when the new rules came in. This affected anyone who renewed between April 2025 and March 2026. The DVLA should have pro-rated your payment but many slipped through.
You were charged the expensive car supplement on a vehicle with a list price under £40,000. The DVLA’s database incorrectly categorised several models, particularly the MG4 Trophy Long Range (list price £36,995) and certain Cupra Born variants, as being over the threshold.
You paid the first-year rate twice. Some owners who bought new EVs in early 2026 were charged the first-year rate of £10 by the dealer, then charged the standard rate of £195 by the DVLA before their first year was up.
You own a van but were charged the car rate. Electric vans are subject to the £335 standard VED rate for light goods vehicles, not the £195 car rate, but the system occasionally gets this backwards and overcharges van owners.
How to check if you’ve been overcharged
Log into your DVLA online account or dig out your V11 reminder letter and V5C registration certificate. Check what you actually paid against what you should have paid.
For a standard EV registered after 1st April 2017 with a list price under £40,000, you should be paying £195 per year (or about £16.25 per month if you think of it that way). That’s the standard rate that petrol and diesel cars pay from their second year onwards.
If your EV cost more than £40,000 when new, you pay the standard rate plus the expensive car supplement of £425, for a total of £620 per year (around £52 per month). This supplement applies for five years, starting from the second time the vehicle is taxed. After five years, you drop back to the standard £195.
Electric vans, which are classified as light goods vehicles, pay £335 per year instead.
How to claim your refund
The DVLA is supposed to process refunds automatically for the most obvious cases, those double payments from April. If you haven’t received anything by the time you’re reading this, don’t wait. The automatic system has been patchy at best.
You need to fill in form V14 (Application for refund of vehicle tax) and post it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AL. Yes, posted. There’s no online option for VED refunds, which feels about right for an organisation that managed to botch the IT update in the first place.
You’ll need your V5C registration certificate (the log book) and ideally copies of any payment confirmation emails or bank statements showing what you were charged. If you’re claiming because you were incorrectly categorised as an expensive car, include evidence of your vehicle’s original list price. The price on your V5C or a print-out from the manufacturer’s website from 2026 works.
Refunds are processed within six to eight weeks according to the DVLA’s official guidance, though anecdotal reports suggest it’s currently running closer to ten weeks given the backlog.
What you’ll actually get back
The DVLA refunds full months only. If you’ve got seven months and two weeks left on your current tax, you’ll get seven months back.
For the expensive car supplement charged incorrectly, that’s £425 back, or £35.42 per month for however many months you’ve already paid. For a double payment of the standard rate, you’re looking at £195, or £16.25 per month.
These aren’t enormous sums individually, but if you’ve been overpaying the expensive car supplement for three months, that’s over £100 you’re owed. Worth 20 minutes and a stamp.
If your refund doesn’t arrive
\p>The DVLA’s contact centre has been overwhelmed, but you can chase via their online contact form (search for “contact DVLA” on gov.uk) or phone 0300 790 6802. Have your reference number from when you sent the V14 form if you kept it.
If you’ve been waiting more than 12 weeks with no response, you can escalate to the DVLA’s complaints process or, if that fails, contact the Independent Case Examiner, which handles complaints about government agencies.
Check your vehicle tax record on the gov.uk website this week. If the amount shown doesn’t match what you should be paying based on your car’s list price and registration date, file for that refund now. The DVLA has confirmed that claims can be backdated to April 2026, but there’s no guarantee that window stays open indefinitely.