SORN refunds: getting your car tax back

When you SORN a vehicle, DVLA refunds any full months of tax you've paid for but won't use. You don't need to apply. Here's how it works.

Checked against GOV.UK guidance · Updated 25 October 2026

Do I need to claim a refund?

No. According to GOV.UK, when you tell DVLA a vehicle is off the road (or sold, scrapped, written off or exported), your tax is cancelled and you automatically get a refund for any full months left. Stolen vehicles are the exception: you apply for that refund separately.

How much will I get back?

You get back the tax for each full calendar month remaining, calculated from the date DVLA gets your information.

Worked example

You pay £195 for 12 months of tax starting 1 January (12 monthly instalments of £16.25 in value). You SORN on 20 June. July to December are full months left, so that's six months, about £97.50. June is a part month, so it isn't refunded. (Figures are illustrative. Your refund depends on your vehicle's rate.)

What isn't refunded

GOV.UK lists these:

• any credit card fees
• the 5% surcharge on some Direct Debit payments
• the 10% surcharge on a single 6-month payment

For a vehicle's first tax payment (when it was first registered), the refund is based on whichever is lower: the first payment or the standard rate from the second payment onwards.

Who gets the refund?

The refund cheque is sent to the name and address on the V5C log book. If you've moved and not updated your log book, the cheque goes to your old address. That's why it's worth fixing your address before you SORN.

How long does it take?

DVLA's contact page gives a processing time of about 6 weeks for refunds after an online or phone notification. GOV.UK says to contact DVLA if you haven't got the cheque after 8 weeks. See refund not received.

Paying by Direct Debit?

If you pay monthly by Direct Debit, the Direct Debit is cancelled automatically when you SORN. You'll get back any full months you've paid for in advance, though with monthly payments there's often little or nothing left to refund.

Refund cheque in the wrong name?

Return it to DVLA's Refund Section with the correct name: Refund Section, DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AL (GOV.UK). Contact DVLA if the replacement hasn't arrived after 4 weeks.

Other ways tax is cancelled (and refunded)

• selling or transferring the vehicle (selling a SORN car)
• scrapping it at an authorised treatment facility (scrapping)
• an insurance write-off (write-offs)
• permanent export
• registering it as exempt from vehicle tax, for example a historic vehicle