Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will refund the element of customs duty and VAT in the retail price paid for supplies of hydrocarbon oils (petrol, diesel fuel and heating oil) for the official use of a diplomatic mission or consulate and to entitled members of diplomatic missions and consular staff.
How to claim
Requests for refund of the duty and VAT on purchases of fuel must be made using one Form 10, it is no longer necessary to include additional forms detailing the claims and providing certification for individual diplomats. The form must include the mission’s name and address, the period of claim, and the details of the bank account into which the refund is to be made. If the period of the claim written on the form does not cover the entire period in which purchases of fuel were made, the claim may be rejected.
Missions must list the vehicle registration mark (number plate) of all vehicles for which a claim for refund of fuel tax is being made, along with the amount of fuel (in litres) purchased for use in that vehicle. For personal vehicles, the entitled official’s name must be written next to the vehicle registration mark. The list of vehicles should be separated into claims for refund of tax on purchases of diesel and petrol (as indicated in this example).
The calculation table must show the total amount (in litres) of each fuel type purchased, along with the amount of both duty and VAT claimed. To calculate the amount of duty and VAT claimed for each fuel type, the number of litres purchased must be multiplied by the rate.
In this example, the amount of diesel fuel purchased is 574 litres, so to calculate the amount of duty to be claimed, 574 must be multiplied by the duty rate (0.5295).
574 x 0.5295 = 303.93
The amount of duty claimed is therefore £303.93
The duty and VAT amount for all types of fuel must be calculated and the total amount entered into the ‘Total Refund Claimed’ box.
The current rates for diesel and petrol are as follows –
| Type of fuel | duty rates | VAT rate |
| Petrol | 0.5295 | 0.17 |
| Diesel | 0.5295 | 0.18 |
The rates for heating oil vary, missions should therefore contact HMRC’s Mineral Oil Relief Centre to confirm the correct rates.
Completed Form 10s should be submitted to Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations Unit in Protocol Directorate within twelve months of the date of purchase of the fuel. Once eligibility for refund has been confirmed, the form will be forwarded to HMRC’s Mineral Oil Relief Centre, which will issue the refund directly to the diplomatic mission.
Missions should note that only tax on fuel purchased for diplomatic and consular registered vehicles will be refunded, however refund for fuel purchased for temporary non-diplomatic/consular registered hire vehicles or courtesy cars may be permitted with prior agreement from Protocol Directorate.
Missions should also note that incomplete, inaccurate or unsigned/unstamped forms will be returned to the mission for correction and resubmission. This will cause a delay in the refund being issued.
International Organisations
International Organisations should check their individual Statutory Instrument or Headquarters Agreement to determine eligibility to claim for refund of fuel duty and VAT. Team 4, in Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations Unit, Protocol Directorate, can provide advice. Tel: 020 7008 1014