According to a recent survey of pump costs, British drivers are paying more in gasoline tax than they were a year ago, even after Rishi Sunak’s 5p per litre cut.
Figures reveal that UK motorists pay more in taxes per tank of gas than motorists in the rest of the EU, including Ireland, Italy, and Spain.
Diesel drivers also pay the highest per-tank levies of any EU country.
In the meantime, a new poll finds that more than half of Britons blame the government for rising gas costs, as ministers face renewed pressure to reduce fuel VAT.
It comes as petrol and diesel prices hit fresh highs on Saturday and Sunday, with drivers warned ‘worse is sadly yet to come’ ahead of the Jubilee bank holiday weekend.
Based on official figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the analysis revealed Britons are currently paying £44 in taxes on petrol each time they fill up a typical car with a 55-litre tank.
This is 55p more than they were paying in April last year, despite the Chancellor having cut fuel duty by 5p per litre on 23rd March this year.
The analysis of BEIS figures, conducted by the Liberal Democrats, also showed diesel drivers are paying £45 in taxes per tank each time they fill up.
As of last month, it was found Britons were paying almost 80p per litre in taxes on unleaded petrol and more than 82p per litre on diesel.
Separate figures, from data firm Experian Catalist, showed the average price of a litre of diesel at UK forecourts was a record 182.7p on Saturday and 182.6p on Sunday.
That brought the cost of a full tank for a 55-litre diesel car to nearly £100.50.
Petrol prices are also at record levels, with the average price at 172.1p per litre on Saturday and rising to a new high of 172.7p on Sunday.
A Savanta ComRes poll, commissioned by the Lib Dems, revealed 52 per cent of Britons blame the Government for rising petrol prices.
Little more than one-third (35 per cent) said the Goverment was not to blame, according to the survey of more than 2,600 adults.
It also found one in three (33%) of Tory voters blamed the Government for high petrol prices, while two in three (67%) Labour voters and more than one in two (55%) Liberal Democrats agreed ministers were to blame.
The Lib Dems are calling for an emergency cut to VAT to 17.5 per cent, which the party claims would save families an average of £600 a year by slashing prices in the shops and at the pumps.
VAT is applied after fuel duty, so, for example, the pump price of a litre of petrol currently reflects the pre-tax price plus 52.95p for fuel duty plus 20 per cent VAT on the pre-tax price and a further 10.59p for VAT at 20 per cent on fuel duty.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘Hard-pressed families and pensioners are facing a summer of agony at the petrol pump.
‘Meanwhile Rishi Sunak is cashing in as drivers fork out over £40 a tank in taxes.
‘It is rural communities I fear for most with fuel prices at record highs.
‘Those commuting longer distances to work are seeing more of their income go on fuel just as the cost of living crisis worsens.
‘Conservative ministers have been in complete shambles on this.
‘This Government is arrogantly refusing to cut VAT, just like they refused for months to put a windfall tax on oil companies. This tax cut must be their next U-turn.’
Responding to the fresh highs in fuel prices this weekend, RAC spokesperson Simon Williams warned the situation would worsen for motorists ahead of the four-day Jubilee bank holiday weekend.
He said: ‘With crude oil prices consistently above 115 US dollars a barrel last week, worse is sadly yet to come just in time for the Jubilee bank holiday, particularly as petrol is now more expensive than diesel on the wholesale market.
‘Due to the rapid rise in the cost of wholesale unleaded, retailers are now taking smaller margins on petrol but larger ones on diesel.
‘If the wholesale price of petrol stays above diesel, we ought to see the current 10p-a-litre gap in average petrol and diesel forecourt prices narrow.
‘If this doesn’t happen diesel drivers will be getting a raw deal, and with prices at these historic highs, every penny matters to drivers.’
Ministers are under pressure to ensure petrol stations are passing on Mr Sunak’s 5p per litre cut in fuel duty to motorists.
It has been claimed firms are ‘profiteering’ from the reduced levy by failing to pass on the full cut at the pumps.
It has been reported that Boris Johnson is ready to name and shame those firms that are refusing to drop their prices.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister today said the Government was ‘exploring our options’ with regards to further action, after Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng wrote to petrol firms earlier this month to warn they could face legal action.
In a letter to industry leaders, the Cabinet minister informed them he had asked the competition watchdog to ‘closely monitor’ fuel prices.
And Mr Kwarteng said he had been ‘reassured’ the Competition and Markets Authority would ‘not hesitate to use their powers’ if they found law breaches.