Vehicle tax follows emissions and mass, not the price of the car

In brief

• The basic tax is set by carbon dioxide emissions for cars first registered in 2001 or later. For older cars it is calculated from total mass.
• Every car except a petrol one pays the driving power tax. For diesel it is 5.5 cents a day for each started 100 kilograms, for electric 1.9 cents.
• The seller is liable for the tax on the day of sale and the buyer from the following day. An unpaid tax left by the previous owner stays with the car as a ban on use.

The tax splits into two parts

The annual vehicle tax is made up of two separate calculations, collected on the same tax notice. The basic tax depends on how much carbon dioxide the car emits. The driving power tax depends on what the car runs on and how much it weighs. The purchase price is not part of either formula and does not affect the sum at all, which is exactly how a cheap car can end up paying more tax in a year than a dearer one.

Every passenger car in traffic use has a basic tax. In Traficom’s table the lowest amount is 106.21 € a year and the highest 654.44 € a year, and the range is divided into steps according to the emissions figure. The gap between two cars can therefore be more than sixfold, and it is decided by a single figure in the register.

The driving power tax applies only to cars whose fuel is taxed more lightly than petrol. A petrol car does not pay it at all. Everything else does, and the amount is calculated as a number of cents per day for each started hundred kilograms of total mass. A heavy car therefore pays more than a light one, even if both run on the same fuel and emit the same amount.

Being based on mass makes the driving power tax more even than the basic tax. It knows no steps and no thresholds: each started hundred kilograms costs the same as the one before it. The cent figure, on the other hand, differs between fuel types more than it looks at first glance, because it is multiplied by both the mass and the days of the year.

Both parts are charged to whoever is entered in the register. According to Traficom, the tax is the responsibility of the holder, meaning the car’s main user, and if no holder is entered, the owner is liable. That entry decides whose name the bill goes to. A buyer can see it in the same place as the car’s technical details, so it is worth looking at before the deal is done.

The split into two also shows in the exemptions. According to Traficom, you can apply for an exemption from the basic tax on the grounds of a disabled parking permit, and the exemption can be in force for one car at a time. The driving power tax still remains payable if the car runs on something other than petrol. The exemption also lapses if the car is taken off the road, so it is tied to both the person and the car.

The year 2001 splits cars into two ways of calculating

How the basic tax is calculated depends on when the car was first registered. According to Traficom, for a passenger car with a total mass of no more than 2,500 kilograms that was first registered in 2001 or later, the basic tax is set by carbon dioxide emissions. For an older car the calculation goes differently: the basic tax is then worked out from the maximum mass permitted on the road. The same applies when the register holds no emissions figure that can be used for taxation.

The dividing line is not a formality. Under the emissions-based calculation an economical engine shows up directly in the amount of tax, because a low emissions figure drops the car to a lower step. Under the mass-based calculation the engine makes no difference at all, and weight is the only variable. Two cars of the same age and the same size can therefore end up in different formulas depending on what their register entries happen to say.

Nor is the emissions figure a measurement of what the car emits today. According to Traficom, the basic tax is set primarily by the manufacturer’s declared emissions figure as entered in the register. The number is frozen at the moment the car entered the register, and it does not move with mileage, servicing or the condition of the engine.

For a used car buyer the line falls in the middle of the market. The median model year is 2008 for petrol cars and 2012 for diesels, so most of them fall under the emissions-based calculation. At the cheapest end there are still cars with no emissions figure recorded.

The emissions figure is on the registration certificate and among the car’s technical details. Under the emissions-based calculation it is the only number that decides the size of the basic tax, so checking it tells you more about the yearly cost than looking at engine capacity. In listings it usually sits among the other technical details, and its absence is information in itself: the tax is then calculated from mass.

Emissions decide the step, the test method decides the table

The emissions-based basic tax rises in steps all the way from the lowest to the highest. The lowest step is 0.291 € a day and the highest 1.793 € a day, and between them sits the whole range of cars on offer on the used market. The step changes with the emissions figure, not with the size or the price of the car.

In Traficom’s tables an emissions figure of one hundred grams measured by the NEDC method means a basic tax of 0.344 € a day, or 125.56 € a year. A figure of two hundred grams measured by the WLTP method means 0.782 € a day, or 285.43 € a year. Each reading belongs to its own table, and they are not read off the same scale.

It is worth checking the test method before comparing the emissions figures of two cars. The figure has been measured either by the NEDC or the WLTP method, and Traficom has a separate tax table for each. A figure in grams alone therefore says nothing about the size of the tax until you know which method it came from.

In practice this changes what comparing two cars in the listings actually means. A buyer sees two numbers that look comparable but belong to different tables. A comparable pair only exists once both figures have been measured by the same method, and that information is recorded next to the figure in the car’s details.

In an older car the steps are not used at all, and mass decides the tax instead. That makes comparison awkward in precisely the part of the market where the cars are: two cars cannot be ranked on the emissions figure alone or on weight alone if they belong to different tables. The first thing to check is therefore the year of first registration, and only the second is the figure itself.

The dearest fuel type pays the lowest basic tax

On the used market fuel types differ from one another in price more than in any other characteristic. The median price of an electric car is 34,790 €, while the median for the market as a whole is 9,800 €. That is exactly the car that pays the lowest basic tax in Traficom’s table, 106.21 € a year, because its carbon dioxide emissions are zero.

The median price is 5,280 € for petrol cars and 7,890 € for diesels. The basic tax for both is set by the emissions figure, and since both emit carbon dioxide, they sit higher up the table than an electric car. Price and basic tax therefore run in opposite order, and the gap is steepest at the cheapest and the dearest ends of the market.

The lowest basic tax still does not mean the lowest vehicle tax. An electric car pays a driving power tax of 1.9 cents a day for each started hundred kilograms of total mass, while a petrol car pays no driving power tax at all. The heavier the car, the bigger that part becomes. The total is settled only once both parts are added together, which is why comparing the basic tax alone is misleading.

The rows of the table also differ in age. The median model year is 2023 for electric cars and 2008 for petrol cars, and that age gap explains much of the price gap. It does not explain the tax gap, because the basic tax looks at the emissions figure rather than the age of the car. Different cars lead each class: the Volkswagen Golf on the petrol side and Polestar 2 on the electric side.

Petrol is the largest single class but not a majority: its share stays below half of all sales. Hybrids and plug-in hybrids both stay under a tenth, and they are the ones that land in the middle on driving power tax: a plug-in hybrid pays it as a combination of electricity and petrol, while electricity combined with diesel carries a distinctly higher cent figure. None of this shows in the asking price.

The price range says the same thing the other way round. Half of all sales fall between 3,500 € and 22,221 €, so the price more than sixfolds within the middle half alone. The range of the basic tax is about as wide. Both vary by roughly the same amount, then, but not in the same order: the dearest end is not where the biggest tax bill is.

Every car on sale carries its own tax notice, and the sum was settled in the register long before the buyer opened the listing.

Liability changes hands on the day of sale

The day of sale is a precise dividing line in vehicle tax. According to Traficom, the seller of a car in traffic use is liable for the tax on the day of sale, and the new owner or holder is liable from the following day. That day-level precision means the date on the bill of sale decides how the bill is split between two people.

Liability does not end by itself. The seller has to file a transfer notification immediately after the sale so that the tax liability ends on the right day. Without the notification the register still shows the old owner, and the bill goes to them. The same notification is also what ends the obligation to pay motor liability insurance.

On the buyer’s side the rule is just as simple. Traficom advises buying a car only from the owner entered in the register, which keeps ownership, motor liability insurance and vehicle tax free of doubt. If the seller is not in the register, the car is in someone else’s name and sorting it out falls to the buyer.

The buyer’s own notification matters just as much as the seller’s. Without it the car has been handed over by the seller in the register but taken over by nobody, and the tax is charged according to what the register says. The entry is the last stage of the deal, not its aftercare.

A registration notification has to be filed even when the car has been taken off the road. Taking it off the road does not replace notifying the change of ownership; they are two different things, one saying who owns the car and the other whether it is in traffic use. The condition of the car is checked on a round of its own, and there is a list for that in the test drive checklist.

In a private sale the notification is down to the two parties

Of all sales, 62.5% are made at a dealership and 37.5% with a private seller. The difference shows in who handles the paperwork. At a dealership the register entries are usually dealt with as part of the sale, whereas in a private sale both parties are responsible for their own notification.

In practice this means two separate steps. The seller files a transfer notification, which ends their tax liability, and the buyer files a change of ownership notification, which moves the entry into their name. Neither replaces the other, and if only one of them is filed, the register is left half done.

A late notification is not a technical slip but money. Every day the register carries the wrong name is a day the tax is charged to the wrong person. The tax accrues by the day, so a week of delay is a week of tax.

In a private sale it is worth agreeing on the notifications at the same time as the price. It is the one point in the deal where both parties want the same thing: the seller wants their liability to end and the buyer wants the car in their own name.

After a dealership sale you can still check the outcome yourself. The register entry shows in the car’s details once the notification has been processed, and the same place shows whether the car is in traffic use. If the entry has not changed within a few days, it is worth asking about before the first due date goes past.

The tax runs one day at a time

According to Traficom, vehicle tax is normally charged for a tax period of 12 months, and a new period begins automatically when the previous one ends. The bill therefore arrives once a year, but the tax itself accrues daily. The same daily basis shows in the amount: the basic tax is given both as a yearly sum and as a daily rate.

The tax can be paid in one, two or four instalments. A single-instalment period covers 365 days, two instalments split it into two almost equal stretches and four instalments into four. More instalments are not free: with the two and four instalment options a separate payment surcharge is added to each instalment.

The number of instalments can be changed once per tax period before the first due date, and it can no longer be changed once the first instalment has been paid. There is no monthly option, so even the smallest instalment covers about a quarter of the year.

The daily rate also settles matters after a change of ownership. When a car changes hands mid-period, each party pays for their own days, and any excess paid in advance is refunded. That is why the date on the transfer notification is worth checking again after the sale.

The tax takes no notice of mileage. It runs the same whether the car is driven daily or stands in the yard all winter. This is what separates vehicle tax from fuel costs, which only arise from driving. The other compulsory costs behave the same way, and they are covered in the article on the yearly cost of running a car.

The difference is clearest between fuel types. The median odometer reading at the time of sale is 282,000 km for diesel cars and 56,900 km for electric ones, yet the tax on both is worked out by the same formula as when the car was new. Wear shows in the price and in servicing costs, not on the tax notice. Vehicle tax is therefore unusual among the costs of a car: it can be worked out exactly in advance.

A car that never moves still builds up tax

Vehicle tax follows the register entry rather than use. For as long as the car is in traffic use, tax accrues every day, even with the battery disconnected and the tyres in storage. The owner of a summer car therefore pays for the months when it does not move either.

Taking a car off the road ends the obligation to pay both vehicle tax and motor liability insurance. The notification is worth filing when the car is left standing, because until then the tax accrues one day at a time.

A car that has been sold can no longer be taken off the road. Traficom’s advice is to file a transfer notification, which ends the obligation to pay both the tax and the insurance as of the day of sale. The order is therefore the other way round from what many assume: taking the car off the road comes before the sale and the transfer notification after it. The seller also has a duty to tell the buyer if the car has been taken off the road.

For the buyer the situation is reversed. A car that has been taken off the road may not be used in traffic until it has been put back into traffic use, so nobody drives away from the point of sale before the notification has been filed and motor liability insurance is in force. This is the point where a saving turns expensive.

Taking a car off the road is not a final decision but a status that can be changed. The car can be put back into traffic use, at which point the tax starts accruing again from that day. For seasonal use this is in practice the only way to affect the amount of tax without parting with the car, because everything else has been fixed in the register entries.

An unpaid tax stays with the car

A neglected vehicle tax does not stay the previous owner’s problem. According to Traficom, a car goes under a ban on use if the tax is unpaid on the due date. A car under a ban on use may not be used in traffic, nor can it be put through a roadworthiness inspection (katsastus) or exported.

For the buyer this means the car can be unusable immediately after the deal, even with nothing wrong with the car itself. The tax was left unpaid by another person, but the consequence attaches to the car rather than to the person.

A ban on use is not lifted by the car changing owner. It is lifted only once the overdue tax has been paid with late-payment interest.

Late-payment interest is charged on overdue tax, and in 2026 it is 9.5% and at least 3 €. The interest itself is rarely what makes the situation expensive. What makes it expensive is that the car stands under a ban on use until the tax is paid, and it cannot be taken for inspection before that.

Traficom also points out that the due date of the previous owner’s tax period may fall after the sale. Nothing then looks wrong at the time of the deal, and the ban on use arrives only weeks later. It is worth reminding the seller about the payment if the due date is close to the sale.

A ban on use concerns using the car, not selling it. A car can therefore change owner while under a ban, and the new owner finds out only when the car should be driven or taken for inspection.

The state of the tax can be seen in the car’s register details before the sale. It is among the quickest single checks a buyer can make, and it costs no more than the time it takes to type in the registration number. The same place shows four things:

• whether the car is in traffic use or has been taken off the road
• whether the car is under a ban on use because of unpaid tax
• who is entered as the owner and who as the holder
• the carbon dioxide emissions and the total mass the tax is calculated from

The additional tax starts at a thousand euros

Misuse brings a separate charge, which is a tax rather than a fine. Traficom imposes an additional tax if a vehicle that has been taken off the road or is unregistered is used in traffic. The amount is five times the annual vehicle tax, but always at least 1,000 €.

The distance driven and the length of use make no difference to the sum. A hundred metres of shunting costs the same as a week of driving, and ignorance of the rules or simple human error does not remove the obligation to pay. A back tax can be imposed alongside the additional tax.

The risk arises in used car sales, where the car has been standing in the yard after being taken off the road. The deal is done, the notification is left unfiled and the car is driven away. The sum is then many times the vehicle tax that would have accrued over a whole year, and it falls due from a single drive.

In Traficom’s own example, a diesel car with an annual vehicle tax of 750 € gets an additional tax of 3,750 €. With a smaller yearly tax the fivefold sum stays below the minimum, in which case a thousand euros falls due in any event. At the cheapest end the additional tax can therefore exceed the price of the car itself.

The right order is short, and every step has to be taken before the car moves its first metre. Either way is cheaper than noticing afterwards.

• Put the car into traffic use before driving it.
• Make sure motor liability insurance is in force from the same day.
• Alternatively the car can be moved on a trailer, in which case it is not driven in traffic at all.

The tax can be worked out before the deal

The amount of vehicle tax has been settled before the buyer sees the listing. It comes from two register entries: carbon dioxide emissions and total mass. Neither is negotiated in the sale, and neither moves with the purchase price.

Of the two parts, the basic tax is the one a buyer can see most easily, because the emissions figure is recorded in the car’s details. The driving power tax also needs the total mass, which is in the same place. Once both figures have been looked up, you know the part of the yearly cost that does not depend on how or how much the car is driven.

The order is the same in every sale. Before the deal you check the emissions figure, the fuel type and whether there is unpaid tax on the car. On the day of sale liability moves from the seller to the buyer, and the transfer notification confirms the date. After that the tax accrues one day at a time until the car is taken off the road or sold on.

The previous owner’s tax period does not reset when the car is sold; the tax carries on from the same point. The first due date can therefore fall surprisingly soon after the deal, and it is worth confirming at the same time as the notifications are filed.

The lowest basic tax of 106.21 € a year and the highest median price on the market, 34,790 €, meet in the same car. That says more about the logic of the tax than any single sum: it measures emissions and mass, not value. For a buyer it means the yearly cost is better estimated from the register entries than from the price tag.

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