DVLA duty figures, not a movement price
Search for trade plate statistics and you might expect a dashboard of market data. We do not publish our job counts, distances, conversion rates or market size figures, so what you will find here are the public figures that matter to dealers.
The figures we can cite are the DVLA charges for a trade licence. That is duty on the plates, not the price of a driven job between two postcodes.
Every figure here comes from GOV.UK or from our guide to trade plate licence cost.
The 2026 GOV.UK figures
We checked these on 2 September 2026 against apply for a trade licence.
The 12 month all vehicles duty is £177, from the GOV.UK apply table.
The 6 month all vehicles duty for a January application is £97.35, from the same GOV.UK apply table.
Trade licences expire on 30 June or 31 December, according to apply for a trade licence.
A licence cannot be issued for less than 6 months or more than 12 months at a time, as GOV.UK confirms on the same apply page.
The application for a first licence is form VTL301, which you print and post to DVLA rather than send to OVM.
Our guide to trade plate licence cost sets out the two main licence periods and links to the full monthly table on GOV.UK.
What every OVM movement still needs
Licence duty does not move a car. Our trade plate vehicle movements still need a roadworthy car or van with a valid MOT and one registration per booking.
You can check any vehicle's MOT on check MOT status using its registration, which is far more reliable than a line in an auction catalogue.
Trade plates do not replace an MOT and non runners are outside our service. If you have several cars to move, each one is booked as its own driven job, or a transporter may suit the load better.
Get your movement price from the quote form
Duty figures tell you nothing about what a driven job costs. Enter the registration and both postcodes for an instant quote, or call 0141 459 1302.
To see how a movement price is put together, read what trade plate delivery costs.
