The government isn’t introducing a new £200 ‘sustainability’ tax on car owners

In recent days we have seen several viral videos online claiming that a new law will come into force from 1 November forcing all car owners to pay an annual £200 “sustainability tax”.

These claims are false. While Vehicle Excise Duty (more commonly called road tax), is already levied on most vehicles, there is no new flat £200 “sustainability” charge being introduced from November 2025.

The videos, which have been viewed more than 100,000 times across Facebook and TikTok, feature footage of Sir Keir Starmer. They claim this new ‘sustainability tax’ would be levied on every car owner, even if the car never leaves the driveway, and will include the retired, the unemployed and those “keeping a car for emergencies”.

A Google News search for announcements about a new £200 flat car tax from November 2025 do not show any credible news sources reporting such a change.

Similarly, a search on Hansard, the record of what is said in Parliament, and gov.uk, don’t show any credible evidence of such an announcement since July 2024, when Mr Starmer came into office, which you would expect with such a major policy.

Changes to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)

While no new £200 flat tax on all car owners is being rolled out from November 2025, changes to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) were made in April 2025.

This is the annual tax that most vehicle owners pay to drive or maintain their vehicles on public roads, which varies on a number of factors including the type of vehicle, its emissions and when it was first registered. For most drivers, the cost of this tax in 2025 is £195, according to the RAC.

Changes to VED were introduced for electric, low and zero emission vehicles on 1 April 2025, which made zero emissions vehicles, previously exempt, liable for this tax. Vehicles that are registered as being off the road are not liable for the tax, while exemptions exist in some cases such as vehicles used by organisations providing transport for disabled people and vehicles made before 1 January 1985.

Who is speaking in the videos?

There are clear clues that the audio purporting to be of Keir Starmer used in one of these videos is also not genuine. A reverse image search shows the clip of Mr Starmer is actually from an appearance before the House of Commons Liaison Committee in December 2024, which did not discuss levying a new ‘sustainability tax’.

Another clue that the audio is not real is the implausibility of Mr Starmer criticising his own policy as being “not about protecting the environment” or as “attack on ordinary families”.

We suspect the audio to be an AI-generated fake, due to its stiff and unnatural intonation and extremely even cadence, but we have not been able to rule out the audio being recorded by an impersonator.

You can read more about how to spot AI audio, and the challenges of doing this, in our guide.

We are repeatedly seeing examples of social media videos making false claims about government policy, often with the use of AI. Recent examples claim that bus pass users will need to re-verify them in October; a £500 ‘exit fee’ is being introduced when people leave the country; and there will be a ‘nighttime curfew’ in the UK.

Before sharing information like this that you see on social media, first consider whether it comes from a verifiable and trustworthy source. Our Full Fact toolkit can help you do this.