Sage-Tips

What is red diesel and why is it illegal?

Red diesel is illegal because it has a lower fuel duty applied to it – but is not designated to be used on public roads. Therefore, using red diesel on a public road is considered tax evasion which means it is illegal.

Is red diesel the same as normal diesel?

Red diesel fuel is no different than regular white diesel; it has the same properties so it can power all diesel-powered engines. However, if you use red diesel in a road vehicle on public roads, it’s considered tax evasion and you will be breaking the law. An exception to this is for farmers.

Is it legal to use red diesel for heating?

Red diesel is standard mineral diesel that has been blended with a red dye to mark its lower duty rate. It’s illegal to use red diesel in vehicles on public roads (although there are some exceptions such as when gritting roads). Gas oil is legal in most off-road vehicles, machinery and commercial heating systems.

What makes red diesel different?

Dyed diesel is fuel that is colored with a chemical additive for identification. Red is the most common dyed diesel, which fuels off-road vehicles and equipment. This kind of fuel is not taxed and has a higher sulfur content. Blue-dyed diesel is like red-dyed diesel, though it is for U.S government vehicles only.

Do police use red diesel?

Yes, Customs & Excise deal with red diesel. The Police usually set up a road check point in conjunction with Customs & Excise. The Police check for drink drive, construction and use offences, no insurance and no licence etc; whilst Customs dip the tank .

How do police detect red diesel?

HMRC and the police check for illegal red diesel use by carrying out random spot checks using a dipstick test. The chemical dye added to the fuel is designed to linger in a tank and is almost impossible to remove, so if you’ve used red diesel in the past, you could be caught years down the line.

How do police check for red diesel?

Can you remove the dye from red diesel?

One of the most common is to remove the red coloration from the diesel. Fraudsters can remove the colour using an acid or alkali which renders the dye colourless, or by stripping the dye from the diesel using activated carbon.

Is red diesel illegal?

Red diesel fuel is not different than regular diesel when it comes to using it in your commercial vehicle, but it is illegal. As stated above, this product has a high-sulfur content, which means that it is suitable for off-road activities but not on-road.

Can you tell if someone uses red diesel?

For HMRC to test for the use of gas oil, they need to locate a marker dye within the fuel or tank using dip testing. The red colour is added to make it easily identifiable as red diesel.

What are the red diesel uses?

Red diesel can be used as a source of heating for the domestic market, where it is put into storage tanks next to residential properties. It can then used be by oil furnaces and other burners to heat a particular space or room in the property.

What is difference between red and white diesel?

Both red and white diesel are identical in terms of chemical constituents, however red diesel is so called as a red dye has been added, a visible difference can be envisaged separating the two. As red diesel avoids taxation the addition of the red dye makes viewing easy for the authorities such as police and VOSA .

Who uses red diesel?

Red Diesel Uses. Red diesel oil has many benefits over rival fuel choices. Red diesel uses include household and commercial heating. However, it is most commonly used to power diesel equipment. There is a reason that it is less costly than standard diesel. Even though they have biochemical similarities. Diesel oil is taxed severely.

What does red diesel mean?

In the United Kingdom, “red diesel” is dyed gas oil for registered agricultural or construction vehicles such as tractors, excavators, cranes and some other non-road applications such as boats. Red diesel carries a significantly reduced tax levy compared to un-dyed diesel fuel used in ordinary road vehicles.