Guidance

VAT road fuel scale charges from 1 May 2016 to 30 April 2017

Use these road fuel charges from 1 May 2016 on your VAT return, to account for private consumption of fuel on a business vehicle.

• From: HM Revenue & Customs
• Published: 2 June 2021

The VAT road fuel scale charges are amended with effect from 1 May 2016. Businesses must use the new scales from the start of the next prescribed accounting period beginning on or after 1 May 2016.

The valuation rate tables:

• sets out the new scale charges (a VAT inclusive amount)
• shows the VAT to be charged if you account for VAT on an annually, quarterly or monthly basis
• must be operated in accordance with the notes to the valuation table

Notes to the CO2 emission figures

You’ll need to check your car’s CO2 emissions figure if you cannot get this from your log book.

Where the CO2 emission figure is not a multiple of 5, the figure is rounded down to the next multiple of 5 to determine the level of the charge.

For a bi-fuel vehicle which has 2 CO2 emissions figures, the lower of the 2 figures should be used. For cars which are too old to have a CO2 emissions figure, you should identify the CO2 band based on engine size. If its cylinder capacity is:

• 1,400cc or less: use band 140
• 1,401cc to 2,000cc: use band 175
• 2,001cc or above: use band 225 or more

Use the table

You need to chose the correct road fuel charge based on the CO2 emission and the length of your VAT accounting period (either 1 month, 3 months or 12 months).

You will need to apportion the fuel scale charge if you change car during the accounting period and, at the end of the period, you do not own or have not been allocated the car.

You need to work out how much of the accounting period you used each car for, and record this as a percentage of the accounting period. You must apply this percentage to each road fuel scale charge to get a total figure.

See the notes to the valuation table for more details.

Valuation table

Description of vehicle: vehicles CO2 emissions figure	VAT inclusive consideration for a 12 month prescribed accounting period (£)	VAT inclusive consideration for a 3 month prescribed accounting period (£)	VAT inclusive consideration for a 1 month prescribed accounting period (£)
120 or less	467	116	38
125	699	175	58
130	747	186	61
135	792	197	65
140	841	209	69
145	886	221	73
150	934	233	77
155	979	245	81
160	1,028	256	85
165	1,073	268	89
170	1,121	279	92
175	1,166	291	96
180	1,214	303	101
185	1,259	314	104
190	1,308	326	108
195	1,353	338	112
200	1,401	350	116
205	1,446	362	120
210	1,495	373	123
215	1,540	384	128
220	1,588	396	132
225 or more	1,633	408	135

VAT rate tables

The VAT rate tables set out the VAT to be charged if you account for VAT:

Annual charges

CO2 band	VAT fuel scale charge, 12 month period (£)	VAT on 12 month charge (£)	VAT exclusive 12 month charge (£)
120 or less	467	77.83	389.17
125	699	116.50	582.50
130	747	124.50	622.50
135	792	132	660
140	841	140.17	700.83
145	886	147.67	738.33
150	934	155.67	778.33
155	979	163.17	815.83
160	1,028	171.33	856.67
165	1,073	178.83	894.17
170	1,121	186.83	934.17
175	1,166	194.33	971.67
180	1,214	202.33	1,011.67
185	1,259	209.83	1,049.17
190	1,308	218	1,090
195	1,353	225.50	1,127.50
200	1,401	233.50	1,167.50
205	1,446	241	1,205
210	1,495	249.17	1,245.83
215	1,540	256.67	1,283.33
220	1,588	264.67	1,323.33
225 or more	1,633	272.17	1,360.83

Quarterly charges

CO2 band	VAT fuel scale charge, 3 month period (£)	VAT on 3 month charge (£)	VAT exclusive 3 month charge (£)
120 or less	116	19.33	96.67
125	175	29.17	145.83
130	186	31	155
135	197	32.83	164.17
140	209	34.83	174.17
145	221	36.83	184.17
150	233	38.83	194.17
155	245	40.83	204.17
160	256	42.67	213.33
165	268	44.67	223.33
170	279	46.50	232.50
175	291	48.50	242.50
180	303	50.50	252.50
185	314	52.33	261.67
190	326	54.33	271.67
195	338	56.33	281.67
200	350	58.33	291.67
205	362	60.33	301.67
210	373	62.17	310.83
215	384	64	320
220	396	66	330
225 or more	408	68	340

Monthly charges

CO2 band	VAT fuel scale charge, 1 month period (£)	VAT on 1 month charge (£)	VAT exclusive 1 month charge (£)
120 or less	38	6.33	31.67
125	58	9.67	48.33
130	61	10.17	50.83
135	65	10.83	54.17
140	69	11.50	57.50
145	73	12.17	60.83
150	77	12.83	64.17
155	81	13.50	67.50
160	85	14.17	70.83
165	89	14.83	74.17
170	92	15.33	76.67
175	96	16	80
180	101	16.83	84.17
185	104	17.33	86.67
190	108	18	90
195	112	18.67	93.33
200	116	19.33	96.67
205	120	20	100
210	123	20.50	102.50
215	128	21.33	106.67
220	132	22	110
225 or more	135	22.50	112.50

Notes to the valuation table

1. For a car of a description in the first column of the valuation table, the value on the flat-rate basis of all supplies of road fuel made to any one individual in respect of that car for a prescribed accounting period is the amount specified under whichever of the second, third or fourth columns corresponds with the length of the prescribed accounting period.

2. Where a CO2 emissions figure is specified in relation to a car in a UK approval certificate or in a certificate of conformity issued by a manufacturer in another member state corresponding to a UK approval certificate (corresponding certificate of conformity), if:

• only one figure is specified in the certificate, that figure is the car’s CO2 emissions figure for those purposes
• more than one figure is specified in the certificate, the figure specified as the CO2 (combined) emissions figure is the car’s CO2 emissions figure for those purposes
• separate CO2 emissions figures are specified for different fuels, the lowest figure specified or the lowest CO2 (combined) emissions figure specified is the car’s CO2 emissions figure for those purposes

1. For the purpose of paragraph 2, if the car’s CO2 emissions figure is not a multiple of 5 it is rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 for those purposes.

2. Where no UK approval certificate or corresponding certificate of conformity is issued in relation to a car, or where a certificate is issued but no emissions figure is specified in it, the car’s CO2 emissions figure for the purposes of the valuation table is:

   • 140 if the cylinder capacity is 1,400cc or less
   • 175 if the cylinder capacity is 1,401 to 2,000cc
   • 225 or more if the cylinder capacity is 2,001cc or more

3. For the purpose of paragraph 4, the car’s cylinder capacity is the capacity of its engine as calculated for the purposes of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994.

4. The flat-rate value of the supplies is determined as if the supplies made to the individual during those parts of the period were in respect of only one car in any case where:

   • in a prescribed accounting period, there are supplies of fuel for private use to an individual in respect of one car for a part of the period and in respect of another car for another part of the period
   • at the end of the period one of the cars does not belong to the individual or is not allocated to the individual

5. Where paragraph 6 applies, the value of the supplies is to be determined if:

   • each of the 2 or more cars falls within the same description of car specified in the valuation table, the value specified in the valuation table for that description of car applies for the whole of the prescribed accounting period
   • one of those cars falls within a description of car specified in that table which is different from the others, the value of the supplies is the aggregate of the relevant fractions of the consideration appropriate for each description of car in the valuation table - the relevant fraction’ in relation to any car is that which the part of the prescribed accounting period in which fuel was supplied for private use in respect of the car bears to the whole of that period

6. ‘CO2 emissions figure’ means a CO2 emissions figure expressed in grams per kilometre driven.

7. ‘UK approval certificate’ means a certificate issued under either:

   • Section 58(1) or (4) of the Road Traffic Act 1988
   • Article 31A(4) or (5) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

Published 2 June 2021