Fuel duty was due to rise on 1 September. It did not.
Petrol and diesel duty was set to go up by 1p a litre on 1 September 2026, and by 2p more on 1 December. In May the Government put both steps back to 2027 and cut the duty on red diesel by more than a third. Here is what was decided, and what it is worth.
Published 3 October 2026 · Fuel Finder UK team
What was planned, and what happened
| From | 2025 Budget plan | In force now | Saving at the pump, with VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| To 31 August 2026 | 52.95p | 52.95p | 0p |
| 1 September 2026 | 53.95p | 52.95p | 1.2p |
| 1 December 2026 | 55.95p | 52.95p | 3.6p |
| 1 January 2027 | 55.95p | 55.95p | 0p |
| 1 March 2027 | 57.95p | 57.95p | 0p |
Duty per litre on petrol and diesel. Rates in force from GOV.UK. The 2025 Budget steps as reported by the RAC Foundation. The pump figures are ours.
The Prime Minister announced it in the House of Commons on 20 May 2026, and the Treasury confirmed it the same day. The rates are set out in the Government's notice, Amended Fuel Duty rates: 2026 to 2027, published on 22 May 2026.
The notice gives the reason as “elevated fuel prices arising from the Iran war”.
The plan it replaced came from the November 2025 Budget: 1p on 1 September 2026, 2p on 1 December and 2p on 1 March 2027, as the RAC Foundation set out on the day of the announcement.
Nothing new came off the duty on petrol or diesel. The 5p cut made in March 2022 was kept for four more months, so the two steps due this year did not happen. The 3p they add up to is now due on 1 January 2027.
What it is worth at the pump
VAT is charged on the whole price of a litre, duty included. So 1p of duty is 1.2p at the pump.
- 1 September to 30 November: 1.2p a litre, or 66p on a 55-litre fill.
- December: 3.6p a litre, or £1.98 on a 55-litre fill.
Fill a 55-litre tank twice a month and that comes to about £8 between 1 September and the end of the year.
On 3 October 2026 the UK average was 174.9p a litre for petrol and 200.1p for diesel. Had the September rise gone ahead and been passed on in full, those would be about 176.1p and 201.3p.
It is a small saving next to what prices have done. On 26 May 2026, six days after the announcement, petrol averaged 159.4p and diesel 185.0p. By 8 July they had fallen to 150.7p and 164.6p. Both have climbed since. On 3 October petrol was 15.5p a litre above its 26 May price, and diesel 15.1p. Read Diesel is £2 a litre for where that leaves forecourts now.
The red diesel cut
Red diesel is the dyed, lower-taxed diesel used off the road: in farm machinery, on the railways and for some heating, among other things. It cannot be used in cars, vans or lorries on the road, so this part does not change what you pay at a forecourt.
Its duty was cut by 3.7p a litre on 15 June 2026, from 10.18p to 6.48p, until 31 December. On 1,000 litres that is £37 less duty. The Treasury calls it a cut of over a third and the lowest rate in over 20 years.
Source: GOV.UK, Amended Fuel Duty rates: 2026 to 2027 and Fuel Duty rates 2022-23. The rates are before VAT.
The same announcement gave hauliers a 12-month road tax holiday, which the Treasury puts at £600 for a typical heavy lorry.
What happens next
As things stand, duty on petrol and diesel goes to 55.95p a litre on 1 January 2027 and 57.95p on 1 March 2027. With VAT that adds 3.6p a litre in January and 6p in total from March, which is £1.98 and then £3.30 on a 55-litre fill.
Red diesel duty is due to rise to 10.76p on 1 January and 11.14p on 1 March, which is where it stood before 2022.
Those dates could move again. The Government's notice says it will confirm the final rates at the 2026 Budget.
What you can do about it
- Where you fill up matters more than 1.2p. On 3 October 2026 there was 16.3p a litre between the cheapest and dearest towns we track. See the cheapest towns for fuel and prices by brand.
- Know the going rate. The UK average page is updated every day.
- Duty is the same at every forecourt. The price is not. See every station near you, cheapest first.
- Know the cost of a fill. Add your car and see what a full tank costs at each station.
- Fill up on the way. Plan a route and see the cheapest stops along it.
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How we worked it out
Duty rates and dates are from GOV.UK. The red diesel rate before the cut, 10.18p, is from GOV.UK's Fuel Duty rates 2022-23. The pump figures add 20% VAT to the duty and assume forecourts pass a change on in full. Tank costs use 55 litres, the size of a typical family car's tank. The average prices are ours, from the official CMA fuel price data: the 3 October 2026 figures are from our UK average page that day, and the 26 May and 8 July figures are from downloads of the same data on those dates.