In December, the government claimed that the pump price of fuel would become cheaper over the New Year. – Reduced fuel taxes help make everyday life a little easier for households and business, said Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum. This caused the NAF, among others, to react. – Selling this as a big cut is a diesel bluff from Vedum, said Ingunn Handagard, press manager at NAF to news at the time. Five days into 2023, there is little to suggest that the tax cut has affected the pump price, we are to believe Handagard. NOT FAIR: – For ordinary people, this does not appear to be an open and fair way of communicating. Photo: news Kjartan Rørslett – There has not really been any change, she says. – We called it a hoax in December, and it appears that they are trying to sell this as much more than what it actually is. – I will weigh my words. But for ordinary people, this does not appear to be an open and fair way of communicating. New requirements for more expensive fuel The Ministry of Finance has stated that the total cut in fuel taxes is NOK 2.2 billion. For ordinary people, the road use tax has been reduced by NOK 1.88 billion. At the same time, the CO2 tax for ordinary people has increased by NOK 1.26 billion. According to the Ministry of Finance, the total reduction will be just over NOK 600 million. The rest of the cuts hit the construction industry. But it is precisely this reduction that NAF believes is a hoax. Because at the same time, increased requirements have been introduced for biofuels. This is more expensive than regular fuel. Just over half a year after half of Europe lowered the pump price, the government agreed to do the same in Norway as well. Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum from the Center Party points out that daily pump prices are very much linked to external prices in the world market. – Have the pump prices changed as expected after the New Year? POINTS TO THE INDUSTRY: Vedum places the rest of the responsibility for the reduction benefiting the customers on the fuel company. Photo: Aleksandr Nedbaev / news – For the government, it was absolutely decisive and important to reduce fuel taxes. What we could influence directly was to reduce the fees, and we have done so. We have therefore removed the entire so-called basic tax on industrial diesel. Construction diesel is sold at its own pumps for tractors and construction machines that do not go on the road. These are therefore not available to the ordinary man in the fuel queue. – In a case from December, you stated that reduced fuel taxes help to make everyday life a little easier for households and businesses. How do you think these reduced fees contribute to making everyday life easier? – If we had not reduced the fees, the prices would have gone up. When we reduce taxes, the sum of what we see in fuel costs as the tax burden will go down. That is the big difference, says Vedum. – Up to the companies Now it is up to the fuel companies not to take out the margin themselves, Vedum believes. – Then you have to put pressure, not least on plant diesel, on the fuel companies, that they don’t take the margin themselves, but that the tax reduction also benefits the customers. That is the point, not that Shell should make more money. He believes that not reducing fees is a recipe for only higher prices. – Now the sum of the measures we are making is a contribution to the fact that prices can be lower. But then the fuel company also has to follow up and ensure that it is people who buy diesel who sit with the margin. Circle K: – Have adjusted the prices Knut Hilmar Hansen, communications manager for Circle K, replies that they have adjusted the prices as the authorities have decided. – We live in a competitive market where high cost levels and price wars on fuel mean that fuel margins are under pressure. We have not noticed that the fees have changed. And they have had increased costs linked to purchasing. Knut Hilmar Hansen, communications manager for Circle K. Photo: KNUT ARE TORNÅS / news – Vedum tell half-truths. The road use tax has been reduced, while the CO2 tax on fuel has increased. In addition, the turnover requirement for biofuel has increased. – The government’s “tax relief” is in practice a zero-sum game, says Hansen. He elaborates that the company has low margins, and that these are under pressure due to the high cost level of fuel as a result of the war in Ukraine. – It is primarily the finance minister who can laugh all the way to the bank. news has not managed to get in touch with other competitors on Friday. Purchase price and taxes more equal The CEO of Drivkraft Noreg, Kristin Bremer Nebbe, does not comment on what margin the company is on. But she explains: NO MAJOR CHANGE: – It is still around 10 per cent of the pie that the company is left with. Not much has changed now, according to Bremer Nebbe. Photo: Moment Studio / Moment Studio – In general, we say that 30 per cent is the international purchase price of the diesel. 60 per cent are fees and 10 per cent is what the company is left with but which is not the most profitable, but which is what they will use to operate the stations. – After the war and a number of other factors, such as increased dollar prices, this cake has changed. Now it has become almost 40/50 per cent between the international purchase price and taxes. taxes and the international purchase price, but this varies. With the high international purchase prices, the relationship between purchase price and taxes has evened out more.
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– Now it’s up to the companies, says Vedum – news Nordland
