The comfort of a motorhome is surely amazing. The overall experience is distinctive and people in the UK love having the feeling of a comfortable home while racing on the roads with a motorhome. A well-furnished motorhome and campervan allow you to get a home-like feeling on the road without any hustle. Necessary appliances are a must if you are planning to buy a motorhome. Yet, you can’t just explore the United Kingdom on a campervan without getting it registered, as you’ll be violating a serious law. Well, here are some of the factors to consider when paying the tax of your campervan or motorhome before rolling out on the roads;

What is a motorhome road tax?

If you are a vehicle owner in the United Kingdom, you have to pay your taxes. Motorhome tax also comes under the same umbrella set by the government for vehicle taxes. However, you can either pay a one-off fixed fee for road tax or pay a particular amount every year to avoid the burden of taxes at once.

The vehicle excise duty is paid in two different ways, suppose you’ve bought a new vehicle, and your duty rate will be calculated based on the fuel emission, but if you have bought a second-hand campervan, you just need to pay the annual road tax, as the duty would’ve already been paid. So, you can even get used campervans for sale too.

Different factors affecting the motorhome road tax

There are a few entities that can either work to increase your annual road tax or decrease it. Certain factors determine the road tax of your campervan. Here are the factors that can impact the motorhome road taxes;

• Production date

Age does matter here, the production date of your campervan will play a pivotal role in determining its annual road tax. Let’s suppose your motorhome was manufactured between 1st April 2017 and 11th March 2020, the tax would be different from campervans manufactured other than this period.

• MS1 Category

The motorhomes and campervans that come under the MSI category have a different road tax rate to follow up with.

• Engine size and gross weight

The weight of your vehicle and the size of your engine also has a part to play in the annual road tax of your campervan. A motorhome that weighs more than 3,500 kg has a different tax rate than those below 3,500 kg.

What is the actual tax for motorhomes?

As discussed before, engine size, gross weight, production date and category can help determine the tax rate. Here are some of the actual examples;

Old motorhomes and classical ones

The owners that have motorhomes with a first registration on 1st March 2001 or after that have the tax amount of 260 pounds per annum. However, campervans that have been registered before this date with an engine capacity of 1549cc will have to pay the vehicle tax rate of 160 pounds. If the engine size is more than 1549cc, they will have to pay 265 pounds each year. Talking about the classical motorhomes that were registered 40 years ago in the United Kingdom have no obligation to pay vehicle excise duty. For these classical motorhomes, you need to apply for a historical tax exemption.

Euro 4 &5 motorhomes

The euro 4 compliant motorhomes have an annual road tax of 140 pounds. If this road tax is to apply to new motorhomes, the vehicle must be registered between 1st March 2003 to 31st December 2006 and the revenue weight must be below 3500kg. Moreover, for Euro 5 motorhomes, the campervan that is registered between 1st January 2009 to 31st December 2010 will have an annual road tax of 140 pounds. Yet again, this applies to vehicles with a gross weight of less than 3500kg.

Campervans and Motorhomes weighting under and over 3,500kg

The camper vans that weigh 3,500kg are categorized as private light goods vehicles (PLGV) and if the vehicle also has an engine size of less than 1549cc, the road tax will be 170 pounds for 12 months. However, if the engine size of the PLGV is more than 1549cc, the tax will be 280 pounds for 12 months. The motorhomes weighing over 3,500kg are known as private heavy goods vehicles (PHGV) and the tax rate for them is 165 pounds for 12 months.