Fuel duty on Budget day: what the rate is now and where to read what changes

The short answer

Update, 29 October 2026. The Budget was presented on 28 October. The Budget 2026 document extends the 5p fuel duty cut and the freeze to 1 July 2027, cancels the plan to add 5p back from January 2027 and defers the inflation-linked rise to the same date. Duty on petrol and diesel therefore stays at 52.95p a litre. The full list of what changed for drivers is in our Budget 2026 for drivers article. The text below is as written on the morning of the Budget.

Fuel duty is an excise duty charged per litre on fuel used on the road. For unleaded petrol and for diesel the rate is 52.95 pence per litre, and it has been since 23 March 2022, according to the HMRC rates page on GOV.UK, last updated 12 August 2026. That page lists no scheduled change for petrol or standard diesel.

The Budget is today. Until the documents are published, nothing about fuel duty has changed, whatever the previews say. When they are, the GOV.UK Budget 2026 page will list them, and the rates page above will be updated if the rate or its future path moves.

What fuel duty is and how you pay it

You never see fuel duty on a receipt because you do not pay it directly. GOV.UK's Fuel Duty guidance describes who is liable: businesses that produce, import or use fuel. The duty is paid when fuel leaves the refinery or import terminal and is built into the price the forecourt pays, which is built into the price on the pump. VAT is then charged on the whole pump price, duty included, so a change in duty changes the VAT too.

Because the duty is a fixed amount per litre rather than a percentage, it does not rise or fall with the oil price. When oil is cheap, duty is a large share of what you pay; when oil is dear, it is a smaller share of a bigger number. That is why a Budget change to fuel duty shows up at the pump within days, while a change in the oil price can take weeks to work through.

What the official rates page says today

One thing worth being clear about. The same page lists a temporary reduction running from 15 June 2026 to 31 December 2026, and it is easy to read that as the pump-fuel cut ending at the new year. It is not: that line applies to marked gas oil and to kerosene and biodiesel used in excepted machines, not to the petrol and diesel sold for cars. For road fuel the page shows the 52.95p rate with no end date. A new end date, if the Budget sets one, will appear there.

What to do today, and what not to

1. Read the source, not the summary. After the statement, open the Budget 2026 page and look for the policy document on fuel duty. It will say the rate, the date it applies from and whether it is frozen, cut or set to rise later.
2. Do not fill up on a rumour. A duty change normally takes effect on a stated date, and the pump price moves over the days that follow. Queueing on Budget afternoon rarely saves anything.
3. If you drive for work, note that the HMRC advisory fuel rates for company cars are reviewed quarterly, next on 1 December 2026, so a duty change in October reaches those rates with a delay (GOV.UK advisory fuel rates).
4. The cheaper lever is still the car. Fuel duty is the same for everyone; what you burn per mile is not. Tyre pressures, a clear air filter and a smooth right foot change your bill more than most Budgets do, and an MOT advisory list often points at the cause when a car has become thirsty.

What this does not mean

This article describes the position on the GOV.UK pages named below as they read on the morning of 28 October 2026, before the Budget statement. It does not predict what the Chancellor will announce, and it will be out of date on fuel duty the moment the documents are published if the rate or its path changes. It is general information, not tax advice. For the figure that applies to you after today, use the two GOV.UK pages linked above.

Sources and method

This article contains no MOT statistics. Every rate and date is quoted from the GOV.UK pages listed under Sources as they read on the morning of 28 October 2026, before the Budget statement. The MOT reliance notice below applies to the MOT advisory list this article mentions.

• GOV.UK: Budget 2026
• GOV.UK: Excise duty, hydrocarbon oils rates
• GOV.UK: Fuel Duty
• GOV.UK: Advisory fuel rates

This article is general information drawn from published test records. It is not professional, mechanical or legal advice, and an MOT pass or a clean MOT history does not guarantee that a car is roadworthy today. If you are unsure about a car, have it inspected by a qualified mechanic. You can check any vehicle's MOT history free on the official GOV.UK MOT history service.