How do I check my road tax expiry date?

Question

Accepted Answer

Your car's road tax (VED) expiry date is shown alongside its current tax status when you look up the registration number — the same check confirms both whether it's taxed now and exactly when that cover runs out.

A few ways to find it:

Check the reminder letter or email the DVLA sends before your tax is due
Log into your DVLA account if you set one up when you last taxed the vehicle
Look up the registration number to see the current expiry date directly

Unlike MOT, road tax doesn't roll over automatically and there's no grace period — if you let it lapse, the vehicle becomes untaxed the day after expiry, even if by only a few hours. Setting a calendar reminder a couple of weeks ahead of the expiry date is the easiest way to avoid an accidental lapse, since DVLA reminders don't always arrive in time if your address details are out of date.