What happens when I buy a car — does the tax transfer?

No — road tax (VED) does not transfer between owners when a car is sold in the UK, even if there are months of tax remaining on the vehicle.

How it actually works:

• The seller automatically gets a refund for any full months of remaining tax, once they notify the DVLA of the sale
• The car becomes untaxed the moment ownership changes, regardless of what the previous keeper had paid for
• The new owner must tax the vehicle themselves before driving it, even if it was taxed the day before under the previous keeper

This catches out a lot of buyers, especially with private sales, because there's a common assumption that "it's already taxed" carries over. It doesn't — so if you're buying a car, factor in that you'll need to tax it yourself immediately, and don't drive it away until you have, since the seller's tax stops being valid the second the sale completes.