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Fuel duty is set to rise 5p a litre, £3.30 a tank
Fuel duty is 52.95p a litre on both petrol and diesel. That is the temporary rate: 57.95p is the underlying figure, cut by 5p in March 2022 and extended ever since. The cut now runs to 31 December 2026, after which the legislated default takes the rate to 57.95p in two steps. At the pump, with VAT on top, that is 6.0p a litre and £3.30 on a 55-litre tank.
The schedule, and what each step costs
The rise is not one event. It is legislated in steps, and each one carries VAT on top of it.
| From | Duty | Step | At the pump with VAT | Per tank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 52.95p | |||
| 1 January 2027 | 55.95p | +3p | +3.6p | +£1.98 |
| 1 March 2027 | 57.95p | +2p | +2.4p | +£1.32 |
Applied to today's average unleaded price of 173.9p, the full 5p would put the pump at about 179.9p with nothing else changing. Diesel would go from 198.8p to about 204.8p. Nothing else staying the same is a large assumption, which is the point of publishing the arithmetic rather than a forecast.
What it would cost you over a year
The per-tank figure understates it, because you buy more than one tank. At 6.0p more per litre:
| If you drive | At 35 mpg | At 45 mpg | At 55 mpg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6,000 miles a year | £46.76 | £36.37 | £29.76 |
| 8,000 miles a year | £62.35 | £48.49 | £39.67 |
| 10,000 miles a year | £77.93 | £60.61 | £49.59 |
| 12,000 miles a year | £93.52 | £72.74 | £59.51 |
| 15,000 miles a year | £116.90 | £90.92 | £74.39 |
Those are the only figures on this site that depend on an assumption about your car rather than on measured data, and they are laid out as a grid for that reason: pick the row and column that match you rather than taking an average that matches nobody.
Why a penny of duty costs more than a penny
VAT is charged on the fuel and the duty together, so it is one sixth of the pump price. Every 1p added to duty therefore adds 1.2p at the pump. A 5p rise in duty is 6.0p to you. Our breakdown of a litre shows the whole split as it stands today.
What we are not telling you
Whether the rise happens. The rates above are what the law currently says, and the cut has been extended at every fiscal event since 2022. The government has said final rates will be confirmed at Budget 2026. We publish what is legislated and what it would cost, not a prediction about what a Chancellor will do.
Duty rates from HMRC's published schedule, checked on 2026-09-25. Pump prices from the statutory Fuel Finder data as at 2026-09-25, across the 7,752 forecourts currently reporting unleaded.
Sources: HMRC for duty rates, and the government Fuel Finder scheme run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for prices, which retailers are legally required to submit to. Price figures are recalculated on every build; duty rates change only when the law does.