Cancel your vehicle tax and get a refund
Cancel your vehicle tax by telling DVLA you no longer have the vehicle or it’s off the road. You get a refund for any full months of remaining tax.
This page is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).
How to cancel your vehicle tax
You must tell DVLA that your vehicle has been:
- sold or transferred to someone else
- taken off the road, for example you’re keeping it in a garage - this is called a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)
- written off by your insurance company
- scrapped at a vehicle scrapyard
- stolen - you’ll have to apply for a refund separately
- exported out of the UK
- registered as exempt from vehicle tax
There’s no other way to cancel your vehicle tax.
What happens after you’ve told DVLA
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Your vehicle tax will be cancelled by DVLA. If you pay by Direct Debit, the Direct Debit will be cancelled automatically.
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You’ll automatically get a refund cheque for any full months left on your vehicle tax. The refund is calculated from the date DVLA gets your information. The cheque is sent to the name and address on the vehicle log book.
You will not get a refund for:
- any credit card fees
- the 5% surcharge on some direct debit payments
- the 10% surcharge on a single 6 month payment
Refund for the first tax payment on the vehicle
The amount you get back will be based on whichever is lower of:
- the first tax payment when you registered the vehicle
- the rate for the second tax payment onwards
If your refund does not arrive
Contact DVLA if you have not got your refund cheque after 8 weeks.
If your cheque is wrong
Return your refund cheque to DVLA if it’s in the wrong name, and tell them the right name.
Refund Section
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1AL
Contact DVLA if you have not got your replacement cheque after 4 weeks.