Reduction of excise duty on diesel fuel. Government meeting now, for the new measures in the fuel price crisis
The government meets on Friday, from 2:30 p.m., in an extraordinary meeting, to approve the draft Emergency Ordinance aimed at reducing the excise duty on diesel fuel by 30 banis, a measure intended to directly reduce the price at the pump. At the same time, to compensate for this reduction, a solidarity tax is imposed on the exceptional revenues obtained from the sale of crude oil.
“The reduction of the excise duty will directly contribute to the decrease of the price at the pump, and the solidarity contribution allows a fair redistribution of the exceptional revenues generated in the current context of crisis”, said the Minister of Finance Alexandru Nazare on Thursday evening.
The excise duty will decrease by 30 money, and the price at the pump by 36 money
More precisely, the excise duty on standard diesel is temporarily reduced by 0.3 lei/liter (30 money), starting from the date of entry into force of the normative act, during the crisis situation on the market of crude oil and petroleum products. The objective of the measure is to limit inflationary pressures and stabilize transport and distribution costs, according to the Ministry of Finance.
At the moment, the excise tax is 2.8 lei / liter, the pump price being around 10 lei.
Under the conditions in which VAT of 21% is applied to the excise, the impact at the pump will be a reduction of 36 money / liter.
Solidarity tax between 1.5% and 9.9% on exceptional income
At the same time, a solidarity contribution is established applicable to economic operators that exploit and/or process crude oil extracted from the territory of Romania, in situations where the average monthly price of Brent crude oil exceeds the threshold of USD 70/barrel.
For companies that sell crude oil in an unprocessed state, the solidarity contribution is calculated by applying a percentage of 60% of the revenues from the sale of this crude oil.
The contribution is designed as a temporary and proportional mechanism, applied exclusively to exceptional revenues generated by the international context, and has a progressive character, with rates between 1.5% (for prices above 70.01 USD) and a maximum of 9.9% (for prices exceeding 140 USD/barrel), according to the normative act.
The Ministry of Finance specifies that the measure is temporary, strictly targeting exceptional incomes.
The budgetary impact is mitigated by the solidarity tax
The estimated impact of the excise duty reduction on the state budget is approximately 610 million lei, while the revenues from the solidarity contribution are estimated between 70 million lei and 650 million lei, depending on the evolution of the oil price, according to the Ministry of Finance.
