HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed new VAT rates for UK drivers of older petrol and diesel cars following a 2026 update.
The tax office has introduced new VAT road fuel scale charges which will remain in force until April 30 next year, impacting thousands of drivers. Road fuel scale charges are a fixed amount approved by HMRC that is added to a VAT return to account for the private consumption of fuel in a business vehicle. HMRC updates these rates once a year, with the new rates being confirmed on May 1. The charges, which are accounted for by including them in Box 1 of your VAT return, apply to vehicles based on CO2 emissions and are fixed amounts irrespective of the amount of private mileage you clock up.
HMRC said drivers will need to work out the correct road fuel charge based on their car’s CO2 emissions and the length of their VAT accounting period, which will be either one, three or 12 months.
The rates increase in bands of 5g per kilometre of CO2 emissions, with VAT-inclusive charges ranging from £657 for vehicles emitting 120g or less of CO2 per km, to £2,297 for vehicles emitting 225g/km for a 12-month period. Drivers can account for the charges on an annual, quarterly or monthly basis.
But for drivers of older petrol and diesel cars that don’t have a CO2 emissions figure, you’ll need to identify the CO2 band based on your car’s engine size instead to work out the charge.
According to ETA Insurance, this will generally apply to drivers with cars registered before 2001. The insurance firm said: “Motorists who drive cars that were first registered before 2001 are unlikely to be aware of how much CO2 their vehicle emits.
“A car’s V5 document (sometimes referred to as the logbook) details the amount of CO2 the vehicle emits per kilometre, but this is not the case for vehicles registered before 1st March 2001.”
Explaining how to work out the CO2 emissions figure for older cars, HMRC said: “If your car is too old to have a CO2 emissions figure, you should identify the CO2 band based on its engine size. If its cylinder capacity is:
more than 1,400cc but less than 2,000cc, use CO2 band 175
more than 2,000 cc, use CO2 band 225 or more
“To do this, work out how much of the accounting period you used each car for, and record this as a percentage of the accounting period. Apply this percentage to each road fuel scale charge to get a total figure.”
Drivers can recover the VAT in full and pay the road fuel scale charge, recover no VAT at all, or track the split between business and personal mileage to partially recover some VAT.
Listed are the new VAT road fuel scale charges from May 1, 2026, to April 30, 2027, for a 12 month, three month and one month accounting period, as confirmed by HMRC:
130g/km: £1,051.00 (12 months) | £261.00 (3 months) | £86.00 (1 month)
135g/km: £1,114.00 (12 months) | £278.00 (3 months) | £92.00 (1 month)
140g/km: £1,182.00 (12 months) | £294.00 (3 months) | £98.00 (1 month)
145g/km: £1,245.00 (12 months) | £311.00 (3 months) | £103.00 (1 month)
150g/km: £1,314.00 (12 months) | £328.00 (3 months) | £109.00 (1 month)
160g/km: £1,445.00 (12 months) | £361.00 (3 months) | £119.00 (1 month)
165g/km: £1,508.00 (12 months) | £377.00 (3 months) | £125.00 (1 month)
170g/km: £1,576.00 (12 months) | £393.00 (3 months) | £130.00 (1 month)
175g/km: £1,640.00 (12 months) | £409.00 (3 months) | £136.00 (1 month)
180g/km: £1,708.00 (12 months) | £426.00 (3 months) | £142.00 (1 month)
190g/km: £1,839.00 (12 months) | £459.00 (3 months) | £152.00 (1 month)
195g/km: £1,902.00 (12 months) | £475.00 (3 months) | £158.00 (1 month)
200g/km: £1,971.00 (12 months) | £492.00 (3 months | £163.00 (1 month)
205g/km: £2,034.00 (12 months) | £509.00 (3 months) | £169.00 (1 month)
210g/km: £2,102.00 (12 months) | £524.00 (3 months) | £174.00 (1 month)
215g/km: £2,165.00 (12 months) | £541.00 (3 months) | £180.00 (1 month)
220g/km: £2,233.00 (12 months) | £557.00 (3 months) | £185.00 (1 month)