Speculation remains rife that this year’s Budget, due to be delivered on Wednesday November 26, will bring with it an end to the five pence-per-litre discount on fuel duty introduced in 2022.
When questionned on the topic yesterday in the House of Commons, Dan Tomlinson MP, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said:
“The House will be aware that the 5p cut to fuel duty is set to expire in March 2026, and as with other tax policies, the Chancellor will make a final decision on fuel duty rates at the Budget in the context of the public finances.”
The Times, meanwhile, reports the Treasury is actively drawing up plans to “scrap fuel duty relief”, while The Telegraph says that removing the discount could be “too appealing for Rachel Reeves to ignore”.
The 5ppl discount was introduced in 2022 to offset rising oil prices brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While it has been extended ever since, the measure was always intended to be a temporary one, and is currently due to expire in March 2026.
Analysts have been picking over a pre-budget press conference given earlier in the week by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who revealed nothing substantive about her plans, but referenced “pressures on the public finances”, “hard choices”, and the need for “each of us” to “do our bit”.
Reevs also said “it is my job to deal with the world as we find it, not the world as I would wish it to be” and, when questioned by journalists, did not deny that significant tax rises are on the horizon.
