Following the Budget statement on Wednesday, drivers of petrol and diesel vehicles may have to pay a hefty £5,490 in auto taxes the following year. According to the published document, beginning April 1, 2025, most automobiles' Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates would rise in accordance with inflation.

VED charges for automobiles with emissions over 255 g/km are expected to treble the next year for customers who purchase high-emission vehicles after this date. "Increasing vehicle excise duty on all but zero emission vehicles in the first year will hit those buying new conventional vehicles in the pocket," said Nicholas Lyes of IAM RoadSmart.

He suggested a possible alternative: "A better solution to incentivise the take-up of electric vehicles would have been to cut VAT on the sale of new electric vehicles with a list price of £40,000 and under."

This comes as the Labour Party Chancellor outlined changes to the Vehicle Excise Duty system post-April 1, 2025 to encourage consumers towards zero-emission and electric vehicles by creating larger tax differentials between them, hybrids, and traditional combustion engines.

For vehicles emitting 171 to 190g/km, the current £1,095 will rise to £2,190. Those with emissions of 191 to 225g/km will see an increase from £1,650 to £3,300, reports Birmingham Live.

Cars emitting 226 to 255g/km will have their charges increased from £2,340 to £4,680. And for those over 255g/km, the charge will jump from £2,745 to a whopping £5,490. See the full list of rates below:

Car tax rates