Excise duty (Mineral Oil Tax) makes up a large part of the price of petrol and diesel in Ireland. For example – 63.67c mineral oil tax is charged on every litre of petrol. (In the UK they charge a fuel duty of 57.95 pence per litre on both petrol and diesel)
Fuel prices have risen sharply in 2022 – and that rise has been made worse by the sad events in Ukraine.
In March 2021, average prices stood at 138.9 cents per litre for petrol and 129.8 cents per litre for diesel.
In March 2022 – prices are close to €2 a litre – that’s an increase of 44% for petrol in the past year, and a 54% increase for diesel
To help reduce the effect of rising petrol and diesel prices – the government announced a cut in excise duty on fuel from March 10th until the end of August 2022. This reduction has now been extended to October 2022.
The cut in tax will reduce the price of a 60-litre tank of petrol by €12 and 60 litres of diesel will drop by €9 .
Normal Rates of Excise Duty on Fuel
(Mineral Oil Tax)
| Fuel Type | Excise Duty Per litre | Excise on 60 litres |
| Petrol | €0.6367 | €38.20 |
| Diesel | €0.53546 | €32.13 |
| Green Diesel | €0.13817 | €8.29 |
Reduced Rates of Excise Duty on Fuels From March 10th 2022
| Fuel Type | Excise Duty Rates From March 10th to Sept 2022 | Reduced Excise on 60 litres | Price reduction For 60 Litres |
| Petrol | €0.4367 | €26.20 | €12 |
| Diesel | €0.38546 | €23.12 | €9 |
| Green Diesel | €0.11817 | €7.09 | €2 |
In 2020 – these were the total amounts of excise duty collected on fuels in Ireland:
Petrol : €425 Million
Diesel : €1.34 Billion
Green Diesel : €46 Million
Read more here about Carbon Tax on Petrol, Gas and Solid Fuels
More about Mineral Oil Tax