Monthly fuel spend and the portion that is government levies.
Monthly fuel spend
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Levy per month
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Levy per litre
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Levy share
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A surprising chunk of every litre is tax
Most drivers think of the pump price as the cost of fuel. A meaningful slice of it is actually government levy. Two charges are built into the price of every litre of petrol and diesel sold in South Africa: the general fuel levy and the Road Accident Fund levy. They are not added at the till like VAT on a grocery bill; they are baked into the regulated price, so you never see them itemised. This calculator pulls them back out. You enter how many litres you buy in a month and the pump price, pick petrol or diesel, and it shows your total spend alongside exactly how much of it is levy rather than fuel.
The two levies, and where the money goes
The general fuel levy is a straight tax that flows into the national budget for general government spending. The rate this calculator applies is R4.01 per litre for petrol and a slightly lower R3.85 for diesel. The Road Accident Fund levy is ring-fenced, it funds the RAF, which compensates people injured in road accidents, and the rate used here is R2.18 per litre for both fuels. Add them and the calculator works with R6.19 of levy on every litre of petrol. These are per-litre amounts, not percentages, so they do not rise and fall with the oil price; they are set by government and adjusted periodically, usually in the February budget. Because they are fixed rand amounts, treat them as the calculator's working assumptions and check the current figures, since a budget can move them.
150 litres of petrol a month at R22.50 a litre
Take a fairly typical commuter buying 150 litres of petrol a month at R22.50 a litre. The monthly spend is 150 multiplied by R22.50, which is R3,375. The levy per litre is the R4.01 fuel levy plus the R2.18 RAF levy, totalling R6.19. Across 150 litres that is R928.50 of levy in the month. As a share of the pump price, R6.19 out of R22.50 is about 27.5 percent. So more than a quarter of what this driver spends at the pump is tax, roughly R928 a month, or over R11,000 a year, going to the fuel and RAF levies before a cent pays for the petrol itself.
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Why the share moves when the oil price does
Here is a counterintuitive point the calculator helps you see. Because the levies are fixed rand amounts per litre, the tax share of the pump price actually falls when fuel gets more expensive and rises when it gets cheaper. At R22.50 a litre the R6.19 levy is about 27.5 percent of the price; if the pump price jumped to R28 because of a weak rand or a high oil price, that same R6.19 would be a smaller 22 percent share. The levy in rand has not changed, but its proportion of a bigger number shrinks. Change the price field and watch the levy share move while the rand levy holds steady. That is the structure of a fixed per-unit excise tax, and it is stable even as the rates themselves get revised.
Who this helps and the diesel angle
This tool is handy for any household budgeting fuel, for small business owners costing a delivery vehicle or a fleet, and for anyone curious about how much of their fuel spend is really tax. The diesel option matters for business users, because qualifying operations in sectors such as farming, fishing, and mining can claim a diesel refund on part of the fuel levy for off-road use, which effectively lowers their cost. That refund is a specific scheme with its own rules and is not modelled here. The common mistake is treating a fuel price increase as purely an oil or currency story when a budget levy hike can be part of it. Use the calculator to size your own levy burden, and confirm the current per-litre rates and any diesel refund eligibility with SARS.
Is VAT charged on petrol on top of these levies?
Petrol and diesel are zero-rated for VAT in South Africa, so you do not pay the standard 15 percent VAT on the fuel itself at the pump. That is unusual, since most goods carry VAT, and it means the fuel levy and RAF levy are the main taxes in the price rather than VAT. The calculator therefore focuses on the two levies, which are the relevant taxes built into what you pay for a litre.
Why is diesel sometimes cheaper than petrol at the pump?
Part of the reason is that the general fuel levy on diesel is set slightly lower than on petrol, R3.85 versus R4.01 a litre in the figures this calculator uses, so the tax built into diesel is a little less. The rest comes from differences in the basic fuel price and the fact that diesel is not subject to the same regulated retail margin structure as petrol in all cases. Switch the fuel type in the tool to see the levy difference reflected in your monthly total.