August, the most expensive month of the last year at Spanish gas stations, has left extra income for the public coffers. Consumers once again paid at gas stations across the country the figures that were observed in the worst moments of the energy crisis last year, when the Government’s discount of 20 cents on fuel still alleviated the impact of the lack of control in the markets. After months of a price truce that in January led the Executive to end the general reduction at the pump, gasoline and diesel resumed their rise at the beginning of summer until leading to a record August, a month in which the State reached to collect in taxes almost one euro more for each tank of gasoline than before the summer season.
The reason for this greater collection is not that the Government has increased taxes on fuels, but rather it is explained by the very nature of the tax burden borne by hydrocarbons in Spain. The final price of diesel and gasoline includes the payment of the Special Hydrocarbon Tax and VAT. The latter is what explains the highest collection from the Treasury for each liter of fuel that Spaniards have refueled this summer.
The VAT borne by hydrocarbons, of 21%, taxes the value of the raw material, therefore, when the fuel market experiences an escalation like the one that occurred in the last summer season, the impact of this tax on the pockets of consumers also increases and, consequently, the contribution of said tax to the public coffers grows.
Filling an average tank of 50 liters of gasoline has gone from costing 79.65 euros in May to 85.05 euros in August. Thus, the VAT component in the final cost went from 13.85 euros in May to 14.75 euros in August, which represents almost one euro more for refuelingaccording to data from the EU Petroleum Bulletin and international quotes compiled by the Spanish Association of Petroleum Products Operators (AOP).
For its part, refueling the same 50 liters of diesel in May had an average cost of 71.35 euros, while last August it was 79.4 euros. If the VAT component is taken into account, it went from 12.4 euros to 13.75 euros, which implies an increase of 1.35 euros.