Today’s HMRC monthly tax receipts show fuel duty receipts for April 2025 to June 2025 are £6bn, which is £88m lower than the same period last year. The fall was primarily driven by a move away from diesel towards electric and hybrid vehicles.

In addition, the Energy Profits Levy revenues in June were not included in today’s tax receipts for the third consecutive month. It is expected these will continue the broadly downward trend since the windfall tax was introduced in 2022.

Sheena McGuinness, Co-Head of Energy and Natural Resources at RSM UK, said: “Revenues from fuel duties are continuing the downward trend, which is encouraging to see in terms of the increase in electric vehicles (EVs), supported by their increasing market share in terms of new car registrations. However, it does highlight the need for the government to confirm what will replace fuel duties as a source of fiscal revenue.

“The government recently announced the £650m Electric Car Grant (ECG) scheme to boost the transition to net zero by cutting costs on EVs and supporting households when they upgrade or switch to electric. UK car manufacturers will also benefit from the funding, ensuring they meet sustainability criteria while also becoming more globally competitive. While the ECG is another positive step towards accelerating EV adoption, more investment is urgently needed in building up the infrastructure required to make EVs a viable alternative to petrol and diesel cars.

“Despite the launch of the Infrastructure Pipeline Portal this month, which should bring transparency on upcoming infrastructure investments for industry to plan and manage resource, the government needs to invest in transforming the grid to genuinely deliver a “green industrial revolution”. Infrastructure of this scale requires a replacement revenue scheme to expand the charging network, upgrade grid capacity (with renewable and other low carbon emission energy sources where possible) and ensure equitable access across urban and rural areas, so freezing fuel duties seems somewhat counterintuitive. However, last week’s announcement to abandon plans for zonal energy pricing is helpful in terms of equitable access regardless of geographical location.”

She added: “In addition, it is interesting to note that the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) data has not been updated since January 2025. Prior to the current hiatus, this was generally released every quarter. There has been no explanation as to why this data has been withheld but given the fanfare around the increase in the EPL rate being the primary source of funding for GB Energy, which per the last set of published figures did not stand up to scrutiny, the lack of transparency around this data set does raise questions.”