Petition launched: Ease living costs by cutting fuel tax

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has launched a petition to urgently reduce the excise tax paid on petrol at www.fueltax.nz.

Click here to sign the petition.

Jacinda Ardern says she can’t control rising living costs – but that’s not quite true.

Petrol is a household and business staple. Petrol costs filter through to the price of every single household good – and half the price of petrol is made up of government taxes and levies.

The Prime Minister can blame inflation on ‘global conditions’ all she likes, but the cost of petrol is one thing she actually can control. Reductions in excise tax could reduce the cost of petrol by up to 80 cents a litre, or 92 cents in Auckland.

The Government has benefited from rising petrol prices, with more GST flowing back to Grant Robertson. We say it’s time to give households a break.

Notes:

The tax on petrol includes:

• 70.024 cents in excise
• 6 cents in ACC levy
• 0.66 cents in Local Authorities Tax
• 0.6 cents in Engine Fuels Monitoring Levy
• 18.2 cents in ETS levy
• 0.076 cents in other levies

And in Auckland:

• 10 cents in Regional Fuel Tax

And charged on top of all taxes, plus the before-tax price:

• 15% in GST

This means the total tax on a $2.77 litre of petrol is $1.43 in Auckland and $1.31 in the rest of the country – about 52% and 48% of the average price, respectively.