Red diesel rules since April 2022: who can use it, storage and containers

Red diesel is gas oil sold at a rebated rate of fuel duty, dyed red and chemically marked so HMRC can detect it. Since 1 April 2022 it is legal only in ‘excepted machines’: farming, horticulture, fish farming and forestry, railways, boats other than pleasure craft, golf courses and amateur sports clubs, travelling fairs, and heat or power for non-commercial premises. Everything else needs white diesel.

What is red diesel?

Red diesel is rebated gas oil, also called marked diesel or marked gas oil (HMRC Excise Notice 75, 1.2). It is the same gas oil as white road diesel, taxed at a lower rate because of the machine that burns it and the work that machine does.

Regulation 3 of the Hydrocarbon Oil (Marking) Regulations 2002 sets the minimum doses. The red dye works out at 4 mg per litre; the chemical markers are what an HMRC officer tests for (Notice 75, 9.3).

Rebated kerosene carries coumarin in place of quinizarin and no dye, so it is not red. White diesel, also called clear or road diesel, carries neither dye nor markers.

What changed on 1 April 2022?

Before April 2022 the rebate was withheld only from road vehicles, so construction plant, generators and commercial boilers ran on red diesel. Section 102 of the Finance Act 2021 and its Schedule 21 replaced that test from 1 April 2022 with a closed list of excepted machines, now Schedule 1A to the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979. Anything off the list cannot use rebated fuel (Notice 75, 2.1).

HMRC’s 2021 policy paper gives the reason: red diesel was about 15% of UK diesel use and produced nearly 14 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. The change applies across the UK and still stands in October 2026; the April 2026 update of Notice 75 added firewood production and unsealed farm tracks to the accepted purposes. Hire firms must flush the tank when a machine moves from allowed to other work (7.3), and no dual-tank system may swap fuels (7.2).

Who can use red diesel now?

A machine qualifies by its type and by what it is doing at the time (Notice 75, sections 2 to 6):

A sports club here means a registered community amateur sports club (7.11), and a golf course under construction does not count (7.9).

Can farmers use red diesel?

Yes, for purposes relating to agriculture, horticulture, fish farming or forestry. An agricultural vehicle must be a tractor, a single-seat off-road vehicle of no more than 1,000 kg, or a vehicle with built-in machinery for handling produce, such as a combine harvester. A vehicle licensed to use public roads only between two plots of the same occupier less than 1.5 km apart also qualifies (Notice 75, 3.2). A truck carrying farm produce does not qualify.

The Memorandum of Agreement in sections 12 to 14, agreed with the farming, forestry and horticulture bodies, draws the line. Accepted: moving your own inputs, produce and livestock, stock fencing, ditch clearing that benefits farmland, unsealed farm tracks, and cutting and drying harvested logs for firewood. Excluded: landscaping, flood defences, peat extraction, sports pitches and haulage. A contractor doing farm work may use red diesel travelling to the job; one hired only to move a crop is a haulier on white diesel. A farm vehicle may also do any other job on the land where it is kept (3.3). For cans and bowsers, see agricultural fuel storage.

Can red diesel be used for heating or in a generator?

Yes, where 75% or more of the heat or electricity goes to premises not used for commercial purposes, meaning trading for profit (Notice 75, 7.14 and 7.16). Homes count, including one someone works from, as do NHS hospitals, state schools, town halls, libraries, places of worship and charities carrying out their primary purpose (7.17).

A shop, office, hotel or warehouse with a gas oil boiler must buy white diesel. Kerosene is the exception: Schedule 1A, paragraph 8(1)(e), lets a heating system burning heavy oil other than gas oil heat any premises at the rebated rate (Notice 75, 2.4).

Generators follow the same tests. One qualifies working for farming or forestry, tree work (7.7), a golf course or sports club, a travelling fair, or non-commercial premises. A hired generator on a building site or at a commercial event runs on white diesel. A generator towed or carried by a vehicle counts as a separate machine if the vehicle’s engine does not drive it (section 4). See generator fuel storage.

Can red diesel be used in boats, and what differs in Northern Ireland?

Every vessel except a private pleasure craft may use red diesel for any purpose, as may machines permanently on board (Notice 75, section 5), so fishing boats, workboats and ferries qualify. A pleasure craft in Great Britain may fill with red diesel if the owner declares the share that drives the engine and the supplier charges full duty on it (Excise Notice 554). A heater or generator fed from a separate tank may use red diesel (Schedule 1A, 6(3)).

Northern Ireland has used the same excepted machine list since 1 April 2022, because Schedule 21 extends to the whole UK. Pleasure craft are the exception: since 1 October 2021 one with a single tank must fill with white diesel, and a registered supplier may discount the rebate on 40% of the fuel for non-propulsion use (Notice 554, 2.3). Northern Ireland also has its own oil storage rules. For cans on deck, see marine fuel containers.

Is red diesel illegal? Can I use it in my car?

Red diesel is legal to buy, hold and use in an excepted machine. Putting it in a car, van, lorry or any machine off the list is illegal, as is mixing it with white diesel (Notice 75, 10.1), removing a marker or adding anything to hide one (11.2). The last two are fuel laundering.

HMRC officers may sample fuel in any vehicle, machine, vessel or storage tank, enter premises other than a private home to test oil, ask for documents and require evidence that fuel is UK duty-paid (9.4). Refuse a sample and they may hold the vehicle until they get one (9.1). Section 11 lists what follows misuse:

• seizure of the vehicle, vessel or machine, which HMRC may restore for a fee;
• a civil penalty under section 9 of the Finance Act 1994;
• the duty evaded, back up to 4 years, and a wrongdoing penalty;
• seizure of the oil, its containers and the equipment used;
• in serious cases, an unlimited fine, up to 7 years in prison, or both.

A supplier with reason to believe the fuel will be misused is liable too (Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979, section 13(2)). Appeal a seizure in writing within one month (11.4).

Red diesel vs regular diesel, kerosene and heating oil

Red and white diesel are the same gas oil with different duty, dye and markers. DfT Guidance Note 23 says red diesel is coloured for taxation purposes and is no separate type of diesel for carriage.

Road diesel may hold at most 10 mg/kg of sulphur (retained Directive 98/70/EC, Annex II). Since 1 January 2011 gas oil for non-road machinery, tractors and recreational craft has had the same ceiling, with 20 mg/kg allowed at the point of sale (Article 4(2); SI 2010/3035, regulation 7). Machine-grade red diesel is ultra-low sulphur, though that rule fixes no cetane number or density and does not cover heating gas oil. For a car owner the larger risk is HMRC: seizure, back duty and a penalty.

‘Heating oil’ can mean kerosene or gas oil, so read the delivery note. In Ireland, Revenue dyes reduced-rate marked gas oil green, so ‘green diesel’ there means what red diesel means here.

How to buy red diesel, and how much you can buy

Buy from a registered dealer in controlled oil (RDCO). Under HMRC Excise Notice 192 a dealer must be approved and must take reasonable steps to be satisfied that your use is entitled (2.6, 5.3). A genuine dealer prints its RDCO approval number on its invoices and states its HMRC approval on its website (5.3). A shop selling red diesel only in sealed containers of 20 litres or less is outside the scheme; filling small containers from bulk needs approval (3.1, 3.2).

Each supply comes with a delivery note saying the fuel is not for road use (5.6). For more than 100 litres from a yard, forecourt or marina, the dealer records your name, address, stated use and VAT number (5.7). Keep the notes: an officer can ask for the documents behind the fuel in a tank (Notice 75, 9.4).

No rule caps how much you may buy; the use and the storage rules set the limit. An essential user who cannot get white diesel, such as a GP or a water company, can apply for a rebated fuel licence and pay the duty difference (Notice 75, section 8).

Red diesel storage regulations

Red diesel is oil, so it falls under the same pollution rules as any diesel. GOV.UK’s farm fuel guidance names red and white diesel as agricultural fuel oil.

Where a rule applies, the bund holds 110% of the largest container or 25% of the total, whichever is greater; drums may use a 25% drip tray, and a single IBC or bowser needs 110%. A bowser’s tap or valve must be locked shut when not in use (GOV.UK). See UK oil storage regulations and the bund capacity calculator.

Keep red and white diesel in separate, labelled tanks. Dealers must flush a tank switched from red to white and label each red diesel tank, drum and pump for excepted machines only (Notice 192, 5.4); the same label on a farm tank prevents a wrong fill. Beyond the UK, see secondary containment requirements.

Jerry cans and carrying red diesel

A jerry can of red diesel is outside the UK petrol container limits. The Petroleum (Consolidation) Regulations 2014 define petrol by a flash point below 21 °C, while GB CLP lets diesel and gas oil flashing at 55–75 °C be regarded as Category 3 (UK petrol container rules). No UK law sets the can’s colour; mark the contents instead (jerry can colours).

On the road, red diesel is UN 1202, Class 3, packing group III. DfT Guidance Note 23 gives the ADR thresholds:

A plastic jerrican carrying dangerous goods has a five-year life from manufacture (ADR 4.1.1.15). To choose between steel and HDPE, see steel vs HDPE fuel cans. Use the ADR 1,000-point calculator for a mixed load and read storing fuel safely for shelf life.

Where Fortitude21 fits

We make steel fuel cans and the spill containment under drums and IBCs. The 20 litre horizontal agricultural can, pressed from 0.8 mm galvanised steel, bolts flat to a tractor or implement frame. The 20 litre NATO-pattern steel can is UN-marked for carrying diesel by road and comes in olive drab or any RAL colour.

Our drum spill pallets have sumps of 42 to 488 litres and our IBC pallets 120 to 1,600 litres. For a UK oil store choose one without a drain plug, as the oil rules bar any drain opening in a bund. Tell us the fuel, the machines and the nation, and we will specify the can and the bund.

Common questions

Can you mix red diesel and normal diesel?

No. Excise Notice 75 (paragraph 10.1) bars mixing rebated and full-duty fuel in any tank, and mixing is one of the acts that attract a civil penalty (11.2). HMRC may seize the fuel and the vehicle or machine. A business that runs both fuels should keep separate, labelled tanks and cans, and flush any tank switched from red to white diesel until no marker remains.

Can red diesel go bad?

Yes. Red diesel is gas oil, so it ages the way any diesel does. Water is the main threat: condensation in a part-full tank settles under the fuel and feeds the microbial growth that blocks filters. Keep tanks and cans full and sealed, drain any water bottom, and use the oldest stock first. Our storing fuel safely guide covers shelf life.

How much is red diesel per litre?

We do not quote fuel prices; they vary by supplier, volume and week. Red diesel costs less than white diesel because most of the duty is rebated, and HMRC publishes the current rate in its rates and allowances list under ‘Marked gas oil’ (Notice 75, 1.2). To compare a price per gallon, one imperial gallon is 4.546 litres and one US gallon 3.785 litres.

Is red diesel still available?

Yes. Registered dealers in controlled oil still sell red diesel in the UK for the machines and uses that kept the rebate on 1 April 2022: farming, forestry, fish farming, rail, boats other than pleasure craft, golf courses, amateur sports clubs, travelling fairs and non-commercial heating. HMRC last updated Excise Notice 75, which sets the rules, on 18 September 2026.

Can red diesel be used on a construction site?

No. Construction lost the rebate on 1 April 2022, so diggers, cranes, dumpers and hired site generators run on white diesel. A special vehicle such as a digger may use red diesel only for farm, forestry or fish farming work, or on a golf course or sports club land (Notice 75, 3.5). Building sealed roads or buildings for a farm is not an accepted purpose either (section 12).

Can a forklift run on red diesel?

Only for farm, forestry or horticultural work, or on a golf course or amateur sports club land. A forklift is a works truck, which Notice 75 treats as a special vehicle (3.4), and special vehicles may use red diesel only for those purposes (3.5). A forklift in a warehouse, factory or builders’ merchant needs white diesel.

Can I use red diesel in a log splitter or firewood processor?

Yes, when it cuts and dries harvested timber logs to be supplied as firewood. HMRC added firewood production to the accepted forestry purposes in its April 2026 update of Notice 75 (section 13), and the vehicles and machines that move the logs to and from where they are cut, dried and stored qualify too. Further processing into products such as fencing or furniture does not.

Can a golf club use red diesel?

Yes, for keeping an existing course and its facilities playable, including repair and renovation, and for heat and power to the clubhouse and changing rooms (Notice 75, 7.10). Driving ranges count. Building a new course, range or clubhouse does not, so that work runs on white diesel. A course vehicle may cross a road between two parts of the course by the shortest route (3.8).

Can I carry red diesel in a jerry can in my car?

Yes, as long as it never goes into the car’s tank. Under ADR 1.1.3.1(a), as DfT Guidance Note 23 explains, a private individual may carry diesel in refillable containers of up to 60 litres each and 240 litres per vehicle, closed against leaks. Keep the delivery note with it, because an HMRC officer can ask you to account for fuel in your possession (Notice 75, 9.4).

Can a houseboat or narrowboat use red diesel?

In Great Britain a narrowboat or other private pleasure craft may fill with red diesel if the owner declares the share that drives the engine and pays full duty on it (Excise Notice 554). A heater or generator fed from a tank separate from the engine supply may use red diesel, and HMRC’s 2021 policy paper kept it for non-propulsion use on permanently moored houseboats. In Northern Ireland a single-tank pleasure craft must use white diesel.

Can a tractor use red diesel on the road?

Yes, when the journey is part of farm, forestry or horticultural work: driving to and from a field or a contract job, carrying inputs, taking produce or livestock you raised to market, or cutting verges and clearing snow beside public roads (Notice 75, 3.3 and section 12). A tractor hired only to haul someone else’s crop or livestock is doing haulage and needs white diesel.

Where do I report red diesel misuse?

To HMRC, through its report tax fraud or avoidance service, online or by telephone. The A3 poster every red diesel dealer must display says the same (Excise Notice 192, 5.3). HMRC can test fuel in vehicles, machines, boats and storage tanks, and it seizes any vehicle or machine found running on rebated fuel it is not entitled to use (Notice 75, 11.1).

Can red diesel damage an engine?

HMRC's Excise Notice 75 and DfT's Guidance Note 23 name no engine damage from red diesel itself. DfT says red diesel is coloured for taxation purposes rather than safety, and gas oil for machines has had the same 10 mg/kg sulphur ceiling as road diesel since 1 January 2011. Laundered fuel is the exception: HM Treasury and HMRC say the chemicals and acids used to strip the marker stay in the fuel and damage fuel pumps in diesel cars.

Does red diesel have VAT?

Yes. Red diesel carries 5% VAT when it goes to a home or to a charity for non-business use, and on any supply of 2,300 litres or less, whatever the use. A larger delivery to a business pays the 20% standard rate. HMRC counts all deliveries to one site on one day as one supply, and oil used as road fuel is standard-rated (VAT Notice 701/19, paragraphs 3.2, 6.1.1 and 6.2.2).

Is red diesel low sulphur?

Yes, for machines. Gas oil sold for non-road machinery, farm and forestry tractors and recreational craft has had a 10 mg/kg sulphur ceiling since 1 January 2011, the same as road diesel (Directive 98/70/EC, Article 4(2) and Annex II). Contamination in the supply chain may take it to 20 mg/kg at the point of sale (SI 2010/3035, regulation 7). Heating gas oil sits outside that rule.

What does red diesel look like?

Red diesel is red. The Hydrocarbon Oil (Marking) Regulations 2002 require at least 4 mg of red dye and 0.4 mg of orange dye per litre of gas oil, and HMRC says the colour of the dye gives the fuel its name. Chemical markers go in as well, and HMRC officers test for them (Notice 75, 9.3). White diesel carries no dye or marker, and rebated kerosene carries a marker and no dye.

Is red diesel the same as green diesel?

Yes, when green diesel means Irish marked gas oil. Both are rebated off-road diesel, marked so officers can detect misuse: red dye in the UK, green in Ireland (HM Treasury and HMRC, 2014). Irish Revenue taxes marked gas oil at a reduced rate and bans it from road vehicles. In the UK only the excepted machines listed in Notice 75 may use red diesel.

References

The standards and regulations this page relies on, at their issuing body. Where a market rule is named here, check the current revision before you specify against it.

• HMRC Excise Notice 75: using rebated fuels in vehicles and machines
• The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001
• GOV.UK: oil storage regulations for businesses (containers of 201 litres or more)
• The Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (England) Regulations 2010
• GOV.UK — storing agricultural fuel oil and constructing storage
• The Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Oil Storage) (Wales) Regulations 2016
• The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018, Schedule 9: general binding rules 26 to 28 on oil storage, and Chapter 3 on waste oil
• The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (SR 2010/412)
• The Control of Pollution (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (SR 2003/319)
• The Petroleum (Consolidation) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1637)
• Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (CLP) as it applies in Great Britain, Annex I, section 2.6 and Table 2.6.1: flammable liquids
• DfT Guidance Note 23: carriage of diesel, petrol and kerosene by private individuals and by businesses
• ADR 2025, applicable from 1 January 2025 (UNECE): 1.1.3.6 and Table A
• Directive 98/70/EC, Annex II: diesel specification, density at 15 °C (UK-retained text)
• NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B.9: conversion factors (US gallon 3.785 412 L; imperial gallon 4.546 09 L, exact)
• HMRC Excise Notice 192: Registered dealers in controlled oil (last updated 18 September 2026)
• HMRC Excise Notice 554: Fuel used in private pleasure craft and for private pleasure flying (last updated 18 September 2026)
• HMRC policy paper: Reform of red diesel and other rebated fuels entitlement (updated 29 November 2021)
• Finance Act 2021, section 102 and Schedule 21: restriction of use of rebated diesel and biofuels, in force 1 April 2022
• Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979, Schedule 1A: excepted machines
• Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979, section 13: penalties for contravention of section 12, including suppliers
• The Hydrocarbon Oil (Marking) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/1773), regulation 3: prescribed markers and colouring substance
• The Motor Fuel (Composition and Content) and Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/3035), regulation 7: sulphur in gas oil for non-road mobile machinery, tractors and recreational craft
• Directive 98/70/EC, Article 4 (UK-retained text): diesel fuel, and the 10 mg/kg sulphur limit for gas oil used in non-road mobile machinery, tractors and recreational craft
• Revenue (Ireland): What is marked gas oil?

Last reviewed 21 October 2026 by Clarence Cheang, Co-Founder.