Do You Charge VAT on an MOT? A Guide for UK Garages

It's one of the most common questions from garages that have just registered for VAT, and from customers who query their bill: is there VAT on an MOT? The short answer is no, not on the MOT fee itself, as long as you're an approved test centre and you charge no more than the legal maximum. Everything else on the same invoice is a different story.

The short answer

• The MOT test fee charged by an approved test centre is outside the scope of VAT, provided it doesn't exceed the statutory maximum.
• The maximum for a car with up to 8 passenger seats is £54.85 (GOV.UK, October 2026).
• Repairs, parts and labour are standard-rated at 20% if your garage is VAT registered, even when they're on the same invoice as the MOT.
• If you're not VAT registered, you don't charge VAT on anything.

If you're an approved MOT test centre

HMRC's VAT guide (Notice 700, section 25) says the fee an approved test centre charges for an MOT may be treated as outside the scope of VAT, provided it doesn't exceed the statutory maximum fee. So on the invoice, the MOT is a line with no VAT on it, and the rest of the work carries VAT in the usual way.

Because it's outside the scope of VAT, the MOT fee isn't part of your taxable turnover either. Your repairs, parts and labour are, and they're what count towards the £90,000 VAT registration threshold.

If you send cars to another garage for their MOT

Plenty of garages don't test themselves but take customers' cars to a test centre down the road. In that case you're usually acting as the customer's agent, and you can pass the test centre's fee on without VAT as a disbursement. HMRC sets conditions for this, and you have to meet all of them. The main ones for a garage are:

• The customer knows the MOT is done by another test centre and that you're arranging it for them.
• You show the MOT fee as a separate line on your invoice.
• You charge exactly what the test centre charged you, with no mark-up.
• The MOT is clearly additional to the work you do yourself.

Anything you add on top, such as a charge for taking the car to the test centre and back, is your own service and is standard-rated. And if you don't meet the conditions, for example because the MOT is buried in a single all-in price, HMRC's guidance says VAT is due on the full amount.

What the invoice should look like

Here's a typical invoice from a VAT-registered garage that's also an approved test centre, for an MOT plus a set of front brake pads:

• MOT test (outside the scope of VAT): £54.85
• Front brake pads: £40.00 + VAT
• Labour, 1.5 hours at £60: £90.00 + VAT
• VAT at 20% on £130.00: £26.00
• Total: £210.85

The VAT is worked out on the parts and labour only. The MOT sits on its own line, so the customer, your accountant and HMRC can all see why that part has no VAT.

The most common mistake is adding 20% to the whole bill, MOT included. The customer overpays by £10.97 on a car MOT, and you owe HMRC VAT you never needed to charge.

Other mistakes to avoid

• Charging more than the statutory maximum. The outside-the-scope treatment only applies up to the maximum fee.
• Bundling the MOT into one 'MOT and service' price with no breakdown. Show the MOT as its own line.
• Showing VAT when you're not VAT registered. Only a VAT-registered business can issue a VAT invoice or charge VAT.
• Marking up an MOT you arranged elsewhere and still treating the whole amount as outside the scope of VAT. The mark-up is standard-rated.

This is general guidance based on HMRC's VAT Notice 700 and GOV.UK's MOT fee table as at October 2026, not tax advice. If your set-up is unusual, for example MOTs included in a service plan or fleet contract, check with your accountant.