Germany – Fuel prices rise again despite the tax cut

MUNICH, October 5 /ATSH-DPA/ – Only a few days after the fuel tax cut entered into force in Germany, oil and gas prices across the country have stabilised.

The German motorists’ association ADAC reported today that the nationwide average price yesterday for a litre of “Super E10” petrol was 2.137 euros.

That price was 2.3 cents higher than on Thursday. For diesel, the price was 2.253 euros per litre, or 0.9 cents more.

The energy tax cut, which will last three months, entered into force last week.

Its aim is to ease motorists’ expenses, after fuel prices rose sharply following the start of the war in Iran.

ADAC said this means that part of the saving citizens initially gained from the tax cut has already vanished, only a few days later.

According to the association, the tax cut brought a significant drop in fuel prices, but the effect of that cut is beginning to fade.

For the moment, there is no clear explanation for the rise in the price of “Super E10” petrol, since the price of oil on the international market and the euro-dollar exchange rate have changed very little.

For this reason, ADAC said that from consumers’ point of view, the new price increase is difficult to understand.

Only a few hours after the tax cut entered into force, “Super E10” petrol was selling for less than 2 euros a litre at many filling stations. But this morning, there were no longer any filling stations selling it for less than 2 euros.

It is difficult to determine how much of the 16.7-cent-per-litre tax cut is actually ending up in consumers’ pockets.

The fuel industry association “En2X” has repeatedly stated that the entire tax cut will be passed on to consumers and that prices should fall by the full amount of the tax reduction.

But consumer protection organisations and economics researchers have reached the opposite conclusion.

According to them, it is not certain that the whole tax cut is being reflected in the price citizens pay.