HCOTEG10830 | Introduction and overview of oils activity: roles and responsibilities: The Oils Unit of Expertise (UoE)

The Oils UoE role is to provide technical and operational advice on all aspects of indirect tax in relation to the control of mineral oils and other energy products including biofuels and fuel substitutes. This includes matters relating to production, warehousing, international trade, cross country pipelines and VAT, and extends to reliefs, tied oils and remote marking premises.

We aim to provide advice to all HMRC colleagues and promote best practice providing an operational perspective to policy development through our close links with the Fuel Duty Policy Team.

Contacting the Oils UoE

The Oils Unit of Expertise operates a "virtual" helpdesk which is staffed by teams of experienced officers, who will answer technical queries on subjects they are expert in on a ‘rota’ basis, in addition to their normal day-to-day responsibilities.

Prior to submitting enquiries, staff should exhaust other lines of enquiry including: their line manager, the Regional Oils Coordinator and/or regime guidance and notices included within the “Other Resources” link provided on the Mineral Oils UoE webpage.

The Oils UoE should be contacted first by e-mail and the query will then be recorded and allocated to an expert for a response.

It would be helpful to the unit, if all the enquiries made should include as much information and detail as possible, e.g. the names of any traders, the quantities, and types of oil involved, their duty status, and the exact nature of the enquiry, together with a short statement which clearly identifies any issues or problems involved.

The Oils UoE may be contacted by e-mail only via (This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)