The couple in the 1940s semi in Drumcondra run gas central heating. They are a composite rather than a real household, but their habits are common across the city. They light the open fire several evenings a week through the colder months, getting through maybe twenty 40kg bags across the season, and last winter that coal carried roughly €152 in carbon tax, built quietly into the price of every bag delivered to their door.
Most Dublin homeowners who use coal for an open fire or stove have no clear sense of that figure. The Solid Fuel Carbon Tax does not appear as a separate line on a receipt. It is collected from the importer, passed through to the retailer, and absorbed into the price per bag. What the consumer sees is €33-something. What they do not see is that, at current rates, approximately €7.60 of that amount is carbon tax, inclusive of VAT at the correct rate of 13.5%.
That figure is going up. It has been going up since 2013. From 14 October 2026, it rises again. And it is legislated to keep rising, in annual steps, through to 2030.
The Price of a Bag and What Is Actually Inside It
A 40kg bag of smokeless coal currently retails at around €33.45, based on the SEAI Domestic Fuel Cost Comparison published in January 2026. That price includes the Solid Fuel Carbon Tax (SFCT), the Revenue mechanism that applies a charge per tonne of coal at the point of first commercial supply. The current SFCT rate is €167.24 per tonne (Revenue, Solid Fuel Carbon Tax rate schedule). That figure is the charge per tonne of coal as a fuel, not per tonne of CO2 emitted, which is a separate measure quoted in budget coverage and which matters later in this article. It translates to approximately €6.69 per 40kg bag before any further tax is applied.
VAT is then charged at 13.5% on solid fuel in Ireland. Not 9%, as at least one widely read article on this topic incorrectly states. Gas and electricity attract the lower 9% rate. Coal sits at 13.5%, the same rate as oil. That VAT compounds the pre-tax carbon tax figure to approximately €7.60 per bag. Roughly 22 cent in every euro spent on a bag of smokeless coal this winter is carbon tax.
Why Coal Takes a Bigger Hit Than Gas or Oil
Coal produces more CO2 per kilowatt-hour of heat than either gas or oil. When the government sets a carbon charge per tonne of CO2 emitted, coal takes a proportionally larger hit than other fuels because burning a tonne of it releases significantly more CO2. The Revenue Commissioners apply no rate differentiation within the SFCT category, meaning compliant smokeless coal pays exactly the same rate as any other coal classification. There is no concession for buying the greener product within this fuel type.
Dublin homeowners have been paying the smokeless premium since the city’s 1990 ban on bituminous coal, a ban that predated the national equivalent, which took effect on 31 October 2022, by 32 years. They now pay a full and rising carbon tax on top of that pre-existing cost difference. Both burdens run simultaneously, and neither reduces the other.
The October 2026 Increase (Not May)
A significant number of articles published in early 2026 state that the carbon tax increase for solid fuel takes effect on 1 May 2026. That date is wrong. Citizens Information, updated on 15 April 2026, explicitly confirms that a planned increase from 1 May 2026 to €71 per tonne has been postponed until 14 October 2026.
This matters practically. When the increase does land in October, it will add approximately 90 cent to the VAT-inclusive cost of a 40kg bag, bringing the carbon tax component from roughly €7.60 to roughly €8.49. Anyone who stocks up before 14 October 2026 locks in the current rate on those bags.
The postponement is a timing adjustment, not a cancellation. The trajectory to €100 per tonne of CO2 by 2030 was legislated in the Finance Act 2020, the path the Department of Finance set for the tax. No subsequent government has altered the destination, only occasionally the schedule. The increases after October follow at yearly intervals. The end point does not move.
What It Costs Per Bag, from Now to 2030
The legislated schedule of increases means the carbon tax component per 40kg bag rises as follows, based on Revenue’s published SFCT rates as currently legislated:
- Now (to 14 October 2026): approximately €7.60 per bag (incl. VAT)
- From 14 October 2026: approximately €8.49
- 2027: approximately €9.38
- 2028: approximately €10.28
- 2029: approximately €11.18
- 2030: approximately €11.95
The headline carbon tax is set per tonne of CO2 emitted, currently €63.50 and rising to €71 in October. Because burning a tonne of coal releases roughly two and a half tonnes of CO2, each step in the CO2 rate lands on coal at about two and a half times that figure. So by 2030, when the carbon tax reaches its legislated ceiling of €100 per tonne of CO2, the Solid Fuel Carbon Tax on coal will stand at roughly €263 per tonne of coal. The shift from €167 to €100 is not a cut. The two numbers measure different things, one the charge on the fuel and the other the charge on the emissions. The carbon tax alone will then represent close to a third of the retail price of a bag, up from 22.7% today.
What It Costs a Typical Dublin Fire
Most Dublin coal use is supplementary, and the volumes are modest. A household that lights the fire occasionally through winter might get through eight to ten 40kg bags a season. A more regular user, burning a fire several evenings a week in the coldest months, reaches perhaps twenty bags. Twenty is a sensible upper end for a supplementary fire, not a typical figure.
At twenty bags, the current carbon tax exposure is about €152 across the season. By 2030, the same habit, with no change in behaviour, carries roughly €239 in carbon tax, an increase of about €87 over current rates. A lighter user on ten bags sees those figures roughly halve, from about €76 now to €120 by 2030.
For anyone on the Fuel Allowance, that is worth putting in context. At €38 a week across a 28-week season, the allowance comes to €1,064 (Department of Social Protection rate from January 2026). Carbon tax on twenty bags of coal currently accounts for around 14% of that, rising toward 22% by 2030 if the allowance is not increased in line with fuel costs. A noticeable and growing slice, then, but well short of the whole.
A small share of Dublin homes, roughly 2% per the CSO, still rely on solid fuel as their main heat rather than a supplementary fire. Those households burn more and feel each increase proportionally harder. For the great majority, the coal fire is a comfort rather than a boiler, and the carbon tax arrives in small amounts spread across a season.
Why Dublin Is Not the Same as the Rural Coal Story
Most of what has been written about the carbon tax on coal is aimed at a rural audience. The framing involves primary heating systems, oil tanks, and homes with no access to the gas network. That framing does not fit Dublin.
According to the CSO Household Environmental Behaviours Survey (Energy Use, Q3 2021), 69% of Dublin households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel. Only 2% of Dublin households rely on solid fuel as their primary source of heat. Coal in Dublin is overwhelmingly a supplementary fuel, bought per bag for the sitting-room fire, not to run the boiler. The carbon tax hits Dublin coal users differently: in multiple small transactions, invisible in the sticker price, and spread across a season of evening fires rather than arriving in a single annual delivery bill.
This distinction also changes the calculus on what to do about it. For a rural homeowner using solid fuel to heat the entire house, replacing the system is a serious and urgent question. For a Dublin homeowner on the gas mains whose open fire provides comfort and supplementary warmth, the arithmetic is different. The additional carbon tax cost to 2030 for a household burning twenty bags a season is roughly an extra €87 over current rates. That context matters when thinking through what, if anything, to change.
Dublin’s inner suburbs carry the most concentrated coal-reliance in the city. Dublin 7, covering Phibsborough, Stoneybatter, and Cabra, holds a high share of older housing that sits at the lower end of the Building Energy Rating scale, much of it in the F and G band. (Ratings by area can be checked on the SEAI BER Public Register at seai.ie.) These are the Victorian and Edwardian redbricks with the original fireplaces and old stoves, where the coal fire is a long-standing fixture rather than a recent choice. Households in these areas tend to carry a higher coal-related cost than newer, better-insulated homes elsewhere in the city.
What You Can Actually Do About It
The Window Before 14 October 2026
If you use smokeless coal regularly, ordering before 14 October 2026 means buying at the current SFCT rate rather than the higher rate that takes effect that day. A coal bunker lets you take advantage of this window practically. Bags purchased and stored before October avoid the roughly 90 cent per-bag increase.
The Fuel Allowance Question
If you receive a qualifying social welfare payment or pension, the Fuel Allowance is €38 per week for 28 weeks. Households receiving the Working Family Payment became newly eligible for the Fuel Allowance, with payments backdated to January 2026 (Citizens Information, citizensinformation.ie). The allowance can be applied to any domestic fuel, including coal. Citizens Information or socialwelfare.ie can confirm eligibility. For households that rely on coal for the fire, claiming every available support week matters as the per-bag cost rises.
Kiln-Dried Logs as an Alternative
Kiln-dried hardwood logs are not subject to the Solid Fuel Carbon Tax. The SFCT applies only to coal and peat, and wood and wood products with no solid fuel component are not liable to it (Revenue, Solid Fuel Carbon Tax guidance). As the carbon tax on coal climbs through 2027, 2028, and beyond, the cost gap between coal and seasoned hardwood logs narrows and eventually reverses on a cost-per-heat basis for some fire types.
The trade-off is genuine. Logs behave differently from coal in an open fire, produce more ash, and require covered dry storage. Moisture content affects heat output significantly, which is why kiln-dried logs are the only meaningful comparison point, not green or freshly cut wood. For households looking to reduce carbon tax exposure without capital outlay, working some kiln-dried logs into the regular fuel rotation is the most practical option available.
If You Are Thinking About Retrofitting
SEAI’s Individual Energy Upgrade Grants currently offer up to €12,500 for a heat pump installation, including a €4,000 Renewable Heat Bonus for households switching from solid fuel. Grants for windows (€4,000) and doors (€1,600) were added in early 2026. The Warmer Homes Scheme offers fully funded upgrades for Fuel Allowance recipients, though the current waiting list runs to roughly 24 to 26 months (SEAI, March 2026, subject to change). Current grant amounts and timelines are at seai.ie/grants.
For most Dublin coal users, a supplementary fire in an otherwise gas-heated home, the carbon tax alone does not make the case for a retrofit. Where it earns its keep is in an older, poorly insulated home that leaks heat regardless of the fuel. If that describes your house, a BER assessment is worth getting before the next round of increases, since it tells you whether insulation, windows, or the heating system itself is the place to start.
The Bill Is Already Running
The carbon tax on solid fuel is not arriving soon. It is already embedded in every bag of smokeless coal bought in Dublin today, at €7.60 per bag, heading to roughly €11.95 by 2030. The next step on that journey lands on 14 October 2026, not May 2026 as many published sources continue to state.
For most Dublin coal users, the fire in the sitting room is not going away. The sensible response is to know what you are paying, understand when the price shifts, and make practical decisions accordingly, whether that means ordering ahead of October, mixing in kiln-dried logs, or planning a larger home energy project.
If you want to know current bag pricing, check stock availability, or place an order before the October increase, Finglas Fuels delivers smokeless coal and kiln-dried logs across Dublin North, including Drumcondra, Cabra, Phibsborough, Santry, Blanchardstown, Finglas, and surrounding areas. Call 087 224 4080 or visit finglasfuels.ie for current deals and delivery information.
