Vehicle Excise Duty

A flat yearly registration fee for car ownership.

Vehicle Excise Duty (a.k.a. "vehicle tax", "car tax" or "road tax) is a vehicle road use tax levied as an excise duty which must be paid for most types of vehicle which are to be used (or parked) on the 'public roads' in the United Kingdom. Hence, it's a fee charged by the British government for the existence of on-road vehicles. The fee was originally meant to pay for roads, but since 1937 the fees went into the general fund.

Beginning in early 2010 the excise duty includes a fee based on the carbon footprint of the vehicle (theoretical CO2 emission rates per kilometre).

Fee payment is required and enforceable by police with various penalties.

The UK government is building out a system of automated number plate recognition cameras (a.k.a. license plate) to aid enforce various criminal activities including driving cars without paying the excise duty. (see: The UK's Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system is big brother?)

Bicyclists are sometimes accused of freeloading use of the road because bicycles are not charged a license fee, even though their impact on the road is miniscule.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Excise_Duty