Data study
Where the untaxed cars are
One vehicle in every 75 on UK roads had no tax when the Department for Transport last counted, in June and early July 2023: about 497,550 vehicles. The rate is 2.9% in Northern Ireland and 1.0% in the South East. DVLA clamped 150,000 vehicles in 2024-25, and the next survey is not due until 2027.
- Covers
- 12 regions and nations, 11 surveys since 2007
- Written by
- TIUK Editorial Team
- Updated
- 22 October 2026
Find a region or nation
Select an area on the map, or search for it by name. The rate is the share of vehicles seen on the road in that area without tax, in the 2023 survey.
Shaded in fifths by the 2023 rate. Differences between neighbouring areas are often inside the survey's margin of error; Northern Ireland is the one clear outlier.
United Kingdom
Select an area
Choose a region or nation on the map or search above to see its untaxed rate, how it ranks, and every survey since 2007.
Untaxed vehicles doubled when the tax disc went
Before the paper disc was abolished in October 2014 the roadside survey found 0.6% of vehicles untaxed. The next survey found 1.5%, and the rate stayed between 1.5% and 1.9% until 2021. The 2023 figure of 1.3% is lower, but the department changed its method that year and says it cannot be compared with the earlier run.
Great Britain to 2013, United Kingdom from 2015, as published. The 2023 bar is on the new basis. No survey was run in 2025: the department has deferred the next one to 2027 at the earliest, so these are the latest official figures for some time.
What goes untaxed, and for how long
Motorcycles are the worst offenders by rate, at 2.5% of those on the road, against 1.3% of cars and vans. Most untaxed vehicles have lapsed recently: 54.1% of them by less than two months. But 11.5% had been untaxed for more than a year, and untaxed vehicles skew old: 48.5% were 10 to 20 years old, against 25.7% of taxed vehicles.
Share untaxed, by vehicle type, 2023
How long untaxed vehicles had been untaxed, 2023
Age of untaxed vehicles against taxed ones, 2023
| Vehicle age | Untaxed vehicles | Taxed vehicles |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 2 years | 3.6% | 14.7% |
| 2 to 5 years | 12.3% | 22.3% |
| 5 to 10 years | 31.8% | 35.9% |
| 10 to 20 years | 48.5% | 25.7% |
| Over 20 years | 3.7% | 1.4% |
What DVLA does about it
DVLA and its contractors clamped 150,000 vehicles in 2024-25 and impounded 21,000, alongside 945,000 penalties and 201,000 prosecutions. An untaxed vehicle that is clamped costs £100 to release, or £200 and a surety if it has gone to the pound, on top of the tax owed.
Vehicles clamped by DVLA, by financial year
| Year | Clamped | Impounded | Penalties | Prosecutions | Out-of-court settlements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 145,000 | 31,000 | 831,000 | 157,000 | 520,000 |
| 2020-21 | 56,000 | 12,000 | 619,000 | 24,000 | 242,000 |
| 2021-22 | 142,000 | 26,000 | 867,000 | 66,000 | 219,000 |
| 2022-23 | 136,000 | 28,000 | 892,000 | 148,000 | 452,000 |
| 2023-24 | 142,000 | 24,000 | 907,000 | 191,000 | 525,000 |
| 2024-25 | 150,000 | 21,000 | 945,000 | 201,000 | 600,000 |
Counts are enforcement actions, rounded to the nearest thousand by the National Audit Office, including DVLA's contractors and the councils that act as its partners. DVLA publishes no breakdown by region.
Every region and nation
| Area | Untaxed, 2023 | Untaxed, 2021 | Change | Rank of 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 2.9% | 2.7% | +0.13 pts | 1 |
| East of England | 1.7% | 1.8% | -0.13 pts | 2 |
| North East | 1.4% | 2.1% | -0.65 pts | 3 |
| North West | 1.3% | 1.8% | -0.51 pts | 4 |
| West Midlands | 1.3% | 2.0% | -0.62 pts | 5 |
| Scotland | 1.3% | 2.1% | -0.79 pts | 6 |
| London | 1.3% | 1.8% | -0.53 pts | 7 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 1.2% | 1.8% | -0.60 pts | 8 |
| Wales | 1.2% | 1.8% | -0.57 pts | 9 |
| East Midlands | 1.2% | 2.0% | -0.81 pts | 10 |
| South West | 1.1% | 1.6% | -0.48 pts | 11 |
| South East | 1.0% | 1.5% | -0.51 pts | 12 |
The change column spans the 2023 method break, so treat it as a rough guide. Download the CSV for every survey back to 2007.
Related
About the data
Sources
- Evasion rates: Department for Transport, Vehicle Excise Duty evasion statistics: 2023 (published 2023-12-07), tables VED0101 to VED0403. The roadside survey reads number plates at around 250 sites in June and checks them against the DVLA record; the rate is the share of vehicles seen on the road without current tax, counted where they are seen rather than where they are registered.
- Enforcement: NAO analysis of DVLA data, Figure 4, DVLA Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25 (C&AG Section 2 report), p118.
- Boundaries: ONS Open Geography Portal, Regions (December 2024) and Countries (December 2024). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2024.
Things to know
- The paper tax disc was abolished in October 2014; the rate measured in 2015 was more than double the 2013 figure.
- Method change for motorcycles; 2015 and 2017 figures for Northern Ireland and the UK were revised.
- DVLA changed how it processes registration transfers; the 2023 survey is on a new basis and is not comparable with earlier years.
- The regional figures carry a margin of error of roughly a tenth of a percentage point either way, so most of the ranking is within noise. Northern Ireland's rate is far enough above the rest to be a real difference.
- The revenue-loss estimate was discontinued after the 2021 survey, when the department judged that changes to tax rates made the method unreliable; the 2021/22 figure is the last published.
- "Untaxed" means no current vehicle excise duty on the day; a vehicle correctly declared off the road (SORN) and kept off the road would not be seen by the survey, but one driven while on SORN counts.
Using this research
The analysis is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Quote it, chart it or republish the data with a credit to Temp Insurance UK and a link to this page. The CSV holds every area and survey. Questions about the method go to the contact page.
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