How much fuel discount really reaches the consumer - cartel office warns corporations

Created: 05/29/2022, 22:57

By: Bettina Menzel

Prices at gas stations reach record highs.

The tank discount is supposed to help, but what really matters to consumers?

(icon picture).

© IMAGO/Frank Sorge

The tank discount applies in Germany from June 1st.

But how much money does the consumer really get from it - and how much do the oil companies keep?

Berlin - Some consider the tank discount of the traffic light coalition to be the wrong signal.

A speed limit would have been better, so the criticism.

But the multi-billion dollar relief package is a done deal.

Experts are already warning not to go to the petrol station on June 1st, because an enormous rush is expected at the petrol pumps - and at the beginning of the month not necessarily a drop in prices.

How much the tank discount really brings consumers can be calculated as an example - with sobering results.

Tank discount: This is how diesel and petrol prices are made up

Energy prices climbed to record highs due to the Ukraine war.

However, taxes make up a large part of diesel and petrol prices.

The energy tax alone is 65.45 cents per liter for petrol and 47.05 cents per liter for diesel.

In order to relieve consumers, the traffic light coalition decided to reduce this tax to the European minimum in the months of June, July and August.

In the case of diesel, the tax relief is around 14 cents per liter (on the tax rate of now 33 cents per liter), while the tax on petrol falls by around 30 cents to the temporary tax rate of 35.9 cents per liter.

In addition, around 8 cents per liter of petrol and diesel will be saved in the CO2 price and an oil storage tax of around 0.3 cents per liter.

The reserve levy serves to set up a strategic oil reserve of diesel and petrol.

Another factor is the actual product price for diesel and gasoline, which depends on the price of crude oil.

The market price of Brent oil sometimes fluctuates greatly based on global demand.

The mineral oil companies also calculate with the so-called contribution margin.

This includes costs for sales, administration, transport and the lease for gas stations and employees - and also includes the profit of the corporations.

19 percent VAT is added to this total price - that's the price that's on the pump.

Tank discount: So much relief really reaches the consumer

At first glance, the tax reduction of 14 cents per liter for diesel and 30 cents per liter for petrol sounds good.

But is that what really matters to consumers?

The previous answer from experts is: probably not.

The comparison

, for example, took a closer look at the composition of fuel prices.

It examined the share of the tax and the share of the contribution margin of the oil companies - in which the profits are hidden - at different prices at the pump.

The sample calculation clearly shows that if the price at the gas station rises, the oil companies' profits will increase.

Taxes, on the other hand, only increase slightly - they even decrease proportionally.

Calculation example:

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*The comparison portal has not yet carried out the calculation with the reduced tax rates of the tank discount.

How high the profit is exactly cannot be said from this calculation, since it is hidden in the contribution margin.

This is made up of the difference between the revenues generated and the variable costs and is available to cover the fixed costs.

With an assumed diesel price of 2.20 euros per liter, the contribution margin of 61 cents per liter is twice as high as with a diesel price of 1.50 euros.

And this despite the fact that the variable cost factor of crude oil prices has already been factored out here.

So it remains doubtful whether the reduced tax rate for the tank discount will be passed on directly to the consumer by the oil companies.

The automobile club ADAC also has this fear, because the prices at gas stations are already too high.

The transport policy spokesman for the Union in the German Bundestag, Thomas Bareiß (CDU), also warned: "There is a great danger that the long-overdue tax relief will not reach the driver."

Fuel prices rise shortly before the introduction of the tank discount - ADAC sees it as a calculation, the Cartel Office warns

The automobile club ADAC suspects calculus behind rising prices at the petrol pumps shortly before the introduction of the tank discount.

The mineral oil companies want to create a financial cushion, suspected ADAC spokeswoman Katrin van Randenborgh to the broadcaster RTL.

It is possible that the mineral oil companies are now making fuel more expensive "because they then have to lower the prices less," the spokeswoman suspected.

In addition, the automobile club points out that the tax deduction takes place in the refinery.

“That means everything that is ordered by May 31st is more expensive and it only gets cheaper from June 1st,” Randenborgh continues.

If petrol stations still had stocks at the beginning of the month, they would probably still be sold at an expensive price.

The Bundeskartellamt has announced that it will keep a close eye on price developments after the start of the tank discount.

The President of the Federal Cartel Office, Andreas Mundt, told the broadcasters ntv and RTL.

If price reductions were not passed on to consumers, the mineral oil companies would have to fear "unpleasant questions", Mundt continued.

The alternatives are traveling by train and public transport.

Thanks to the nine-euro ticket, this is particularly cheap in June, July and August.

However, there is a small detail to consider when choosing local trains.