How much would a liter of gasoline and diesel cost in Spain if there were no taxes?

The price of gasoline and diesel is at historic highs in Spain. The sharp increase in the price of the raw material (crude oil has exceeded 100 dollars per barrel) that is used as a base to produce these fuels is driving up the price of gasoline and diesel, with the former reaching more than two euros per liter in many provinces.

According to the latest data published by the Government (corresponding to January 2022), the final sale price of gasoline was 1.51 euros per litre. However, if fuels were not taxed, the price per liter would be 77.4 cents. How then do you get to the 1.51 euros that marked the average price in January?

To the 77.4 cents it would be necessary to add 47.4 cents of special taxes. These taxes are established in a fixed way per number of litersso they do not increase the final price when oil (and wholesale gasoline) becomes more expensive, nor do they lower it when it falls.

This is the Special Tax

Both gasoline and diesel bear a national Special Tax on Hydrocarbons that came into force on January 1, 2019 (before the autonomous communities had some power to reduce or even eliminate the regional part of this tax). Now it is a national tax and consists of a general section and a special section. The general section amounts to 400.69 euros for every 1,000 liters of gasoline and 307 euros for every thousand liters of diesel.

To this must also be added the special section of the Special Tax on Hydrocarbons, which amounts to 72 euros per 1,000 liters of fuel, both for gasoline and diesel.

Finally, to the price resulting from the price of gasoline plus the Special Tax, 21% VAT must be added. In January, this 21% meant 26.2 cents more for each liter of gasoline and 24.1 cents more for each liter of diesel.

The great problem of VAT for the consumer is that being a fixed percentage of the price of fuel, as the price of the raw material rises, that 21% VAT is increasing if it is analyzed in euros, which further increases the final price of gasoline and diesel.

taxes in Europe

Although it is true that fuels have a heavy tax (50% of the final price are taxes), Spain is at the bottom of the EU in this section. In the Eurozone, taxes represent an average of 55.2% of the final price.

In the Netherlands or Greece taxes reach up to 60%. However, it is also true that several countries have implemented exceptional measures to lower the price of gasoline due to the recent rise in the raw material. The Government of Spain is currently studying taking some measure to soften the rise in fuel prices.