Govt charging excessive taxes on fuel

Consumers pay overall taxes to tune of Rs91.36 per litre for petrol

ISLAMABAD:

Although the government has tried to take the sting out of biting fuel prices, the “price differential claim” – the difference between the actual price and the price at filling stations – is still high as consumers pay overall taxes to the tune of Rs91.36 for petrol.

The government puts the levy on the base price of Rs161 per litre, according to details revealed on Monday, which showed that the petroleum products were being sold at their current price after the addition of exorbitant taxes and other charges like petroleum development levy, rent, distribution costs and dealer margins.

Similarly, a tax of Rs87.49 was being charged against the actual Rs166 per litre price of diesel.

According to the documents, a tax of Rs71.83 per litre was levied on petrol after refining, while the ex-refinery price of petrol was Rs181.70 per litre. A tax of Rs19.53 per litre has been levied on petrol before refining.

Similarly, diesel after refining has been taxed at Rs67.96 per litre while the ex-refinery price of diesel stood at Rs190.21 per litre.

It may be mentioned here that the government reduced the prices of petrol and high speed diesel by Rs9 per litre after the currency gained some lost ground against the US dollar.

The country revises the prices of petroleum products every fortnight and has increased the rates over the last year to comply with tough conditionalities imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package.

The increase in petroleum prices, along with global supply chain constraints and an economic meltdown, sent inflation to historic highs which eased to 29.4 per cent in June for the first time in the last several months.