Red diesel fraud tackled
There are special rules that allow farmers to use red diesel to help grit and clear snow during extreme cold snaps. The legislation allows users of agricultural tractors, light agricultural vehicles and agricultural material handlers to use red diesel in their vehicles when gritting public roads.
However, in any other circumstances it is illegal to use red diesel on the open road. The UK and Irish Government have been working together to combat illegal fuel laundering where the red diesel (green in Ireland) is filtered to remove the coloured marker. A new marker is to be introduced which will make it much more difficult for fraudsters to clean the fuel. The new marker is to be produced by The Dow Chemical Company.
Nicky Morgan, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said:
‘Using illicit fuel is not a victimless crime; it robs the government of tax revenue that is used to fund vital public services and puts those businesses that follow the rules at a commercial disadvantage. It also has a severe environmental impact, with considerable clean-up costs for local councils. So we are boosting HMRC’s fight against this fraud by introducing a more robust marker to ensure it is far harder to remove.’