Red diesel and tree work: what Excise Notice 75 lists
What HMRC's Excise Notice 75 says about rebated fuel, known as red diesel, in machines and vehicles, the places it names arboriculture and tree work, the vehicle types it lists and what it says happens on misuse.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It is not tax advice either. It reports the wording of HMRC's notice, which was published on May 3, 2023 and last updated on September 18, 2026 according to its GOV.UK page, and it never says which fuel any machine or crew may use. Capital allowances and other tax rules for kit are on the guide to equipment tax rules in the United Kingdom. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What the notice is about
Excise Notice 75 is titled Using rebated fuels in vehicles and machines. Section 1.2 says diesel is normally liable to the full rate of excise duty, and that some vehicles and machines may use fuel taxed at a reduced, rebated rate because of the type of vehicle or machine and the purpose it is used for. It says rebated diesel is sometimes called red diesel, marked diesel or marked gas oil. Section 2.1 calls the vehicles and machines that qualify "excepted machines" and says any vehicle or machine that is not an excepted machine cannot use rebated fuel.
The notice treats vehicles and other machinery differently. A vehicle has to pass two tests, which section 3 sets out: what type of vehicle it is, and what it is being used for. A machine that is not a vehicle only has the second test.
Where tree work is named
Section 2.5 on other machinery says engines, machinery or appliances can use red diesel when used for purposes relating to agriculture, horticulture, aquatic farming, arboriculture or forestry, and for any other purpose on land where they are used for any of those. Section 4 repeats the list and has "arboriculture" as its own line.
Section 7.7 is headed Arboriculture. It describes arboriculture as chiefly the growing and care of trees, shrubs and woody plants, usually in gardens, parks or other populated places. It says red diesel can be used in machines and appliances that are not vehicles for every kind of tree work, and gives this list as an example of what arborists and tree surgeons use, not an exhaustive one:
- generators
- woodchippers
- stump grinders
- mobile elevating work platforms
Section 4 adds that machines and appliances built into, mounted on, carried or towed by a vehicle are treated as separate machines to the vehicle, provided they do not run from the engine that moves the vehicle. For vehicles, section 7.7 says qualifying vehicle types can use red diesel for arboriculture uses that are accepted as purposes relating to horticulture or forestry, and that agricultural vehicles can also use it for cutting trees bordering public roads.
The vehicle types and the tests
Section 2.2 lists five types of vehicle that can use red diesel, and only for qualifying purposes: vehicles designed to operate on a railway, agricultural vehicles, special vehicles, mowing machines, and unlicensed vehicles including those with a statutory off road notice. Section 3.1 says many vehicles will be classed as special or agricultural by the DVLA, but that this does not confirm eligibility to use red diesel.
| Use | What the notice says | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Machines that are not vehicles | Can use red diesel for arboriculture, and all forms of tree work | 4 and 7.7 |
| Agricultural vehicles | A tractor, a single-seat vehicle of no more than 1,000 kg built mainly for off-road use, and two further definitions. Vehicles designed mainly for carrying goods are trucks, not agricultural vehicles. Allowed uses include cutting verges, hedges or trees bordering public roads | 3.2 and 3.3 |
| Special vehicles | Digging machines, mobile cranes, mobile pumping vehicles, works trucks and road rollers. Allowed for purposes relating to agriculture, horticulture, aquatic farming or forestry, and on golf courses and community amateur sports club land | 3.4 and 3.5 |
| Unlicensed vehicles | Allowed for purposes relating to agriculture, horticulture, aquatic farming or forestry only if not on a public road | 3.7 |
| Any other vehicle | Not an excepted machine, so it cannot use rebated fuel | 2.1 |
Section 3.4 adds that a digging machine, mobile crane or mobile pumping vehicle must not carry any load on public roads except what is necessary for its propulsion or for operating its equipment. Section 7.4 says this can include fuel, tools, and equipment required for health and safety, with cones for a safe work zone and operators' protective equipment as its examples.
What counts as horticulture and forestry
Section 7.5 gives HMRC's definition of horticulture as managing gardens, including aspects of arboriculture involving trees, shrubs and woody plants in gardens. It defines forestry as forming and cultivating forests and managing growing timber. The memorandum of agreement in section 12 lists activities accepted as these purposes, among them growing or harvesting timber, cutting and drying logs to be used as firewood, and cultivating and managing trees, shrubs and woody plants in gardens. It lists activities not accepted, among them landscaping and managing trees, shrubs and woody plants outside gardens, such as in recreational areas, except where the work is forestry as it defines it.
Sections 13 and 14 give examples. It says cutting down trees anywhere other than a forest or commercial forestry enterprise is not forestry work, even if the timber is sold, and that felling trees or clearing vegetation on wasteland does not count as agriculture, horticulture or forestry work. It says chipping, shredding or fine cutting of woody material from timber harvested as part of a forestry operation is accepted as part of that operation. Its gardening example says work at the side of a road or on playing fields is not horticulture, so a vehicle used there is not an excepted machine, but a machine other than a vehicle is excepted if used for arboriculture.
Misuse
Section 11.1 says HMRC will seize any vehicle, vessel, machine or appliance using rebated fuel when it is not allowed to, and may offer to restore it for a fee. Section 11.2 lists acts that bring a penalty under section 9(2)(a) of the Finance Act 1994, including using rebated fuel in something that is not an excepted machine and mixing rebated fuel with fully taxed fuel. It says the person may also pay the fuel duty evaded going back up to 4 years and a wrongdoing penalty, and that in serious cases the fine is unlimited or imprisonment up to 7 years, or both. Section 10.1 says the fuels must not be mixed in any tank or fuel system of a machine not allowed to use rebated fuel.
Other fuel duty pages
HMRC's page Check if you need to pay Fuel Duty covers who accounts for duty on fuel they produce, import or use. Its page on Fuel Duty reliefs lists these among its headings: tied oils, fuel used to generate electricity, aviation turbine fuel, marine voyages, horticultural producer's relief and Rural Fuel Duty relief. Tree work is not named on that page.