In the UK, fuel duty on standard petrol and diesel is currently about 52.95p per litre , with VAT charged on top of that amount as part of the pump price.

Quick Scoop

  • Fuel duty is a fixed amount per litre , so you pay roughly 52.95p in tax for every litre of standard petrol or diesel you buy, before VAT.
  • On top of this, 20% VAT is then applied to both the underlying fuel price and the fuel duty, so tax makes up a large share of what you see at the pump.
  • The current rate has been effectively frozen for years , apart from a temporary 5p cut introduced in 2022 that was incorporated into the 52.95p figure and extended through the mid‑2020s.

A bit of context

Fuel duty brings in tens of billions of pounds a year for the UK government and is one of the bigger single taxes on everyday consumer spending. Because it is a flat per‑litre charge rather than a percentage, its real value is eroded by inflation over time unless governments choose to increase it.

Put simply: out of every litre you buy, just over 50p is fuel duty, and then the government charges VAT on top of that whole stack, which is why tax is such a large part of pump prices.

TL;DR: Fuel duty on petrol and diesel in the UK is about 52.95p per litre, and then 20% VAT is added on the fuel price plus that duty, making tax a big chunk of what you pay.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.