Free MOT and Tax Check

Both MOT and tax are separate legal requirements for driving on UK public roads, and — this catches people out surprisingly often — they're tested, renewed and tracked entirely independently of each other by different parts of government. That means a vehicle can have a perfectly valid MOT while being untaxed, or valid tax while the MOT has quietly lapsed, and there's no automatic warning linking the two. Checking both at once, rather than assuming a pass on one implies the other is fine, is simply the fastest and most reliable way to confirm a vehicle is fully road-legal at this exact moment, which matters whether you're checking your own car before a journey or a car you're about to buy.

This combined page is convenient when you want both answers in one place, but if you know you only need one, the dedicated pages give you more depth on that specific topic. For MOT specifically — including the full test-by-test history, not just current status — use our MOT history check. If tax is genuinely your only concern, including whether the vehicle is declared SORN rather than simply untaxed, our car tax check covers that with more detail on exact due dates and status meaning.

To tax a vehicle, the DVLA's own online service at gov.uk/vehicle-tax is the correct route — you'll need a reference number, which can come from your V5C logbook, a V11 reminder letter, or the green new keeper slip if you've just bought the car. Renewing an MOT works differently: you'll need to book and attend a test at a DVSA-approved test centre, and if the current MOT has already expired, the only legal journey you're permitted to make is directly to that pre-booked test — not to the shops, not to work, nowhere else, even for five minutes.

No, and the distinction actually matters for whether you're at risk of a fine. SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) is a deliberate, formal declaration to the DVLA that a vehicle is being kept off public roads entirely — once declared, that vehicle legitimately doesn't need tax or insurance, as long as it genuinely stays off the road. "Untaxed" without any SORN declaration is a different situation: the vehicle should be taxed and isn't, which is precisely the scenario that carries real fine risk if it's driven or even just parked on a public road. See our SORN check to see exactly which of the two applies to a specific vehicle.