The continued rise in fuel prices further fuels the debate about an additional tax on presumed one-off profits from mineral oil companies.

According to data from the internet service clever-tanken.de, the national average price for a liter of diesel rose to 2.008 euros on Thursday.

For E10, 1.947 euros were due at the pump.

This means that diesel, whose price fell by 12.5 cents at the beginning of the month when the tank discount was introduced, is back at the same price as it was on May 26th.

At the beginning of the month, E10 had become 28 cents cheaper on average across Germany and now costs as much as it did in mid-April.

Martin Hock

Editor in Business.

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Even when the tank discount was introduced, prices had not fallen by the entire reduction of 35.2 cents for petrol and 16.7 cents for diesel.

In the meantime, the discount effect for diesel is only 25 percent and for E10 almost 60 percent of the reduction amount.

The energy tax cut does not reach consumers as it should, said ADAC fuel market expert Christian Laberer.

"At the moment the taxpayer is promoting the profits of the mineral oil industry, which is obviously using the crisis situation to maximize profits at the expense of consumers." This is rejected in the mineral oil industry.

The mineral oil company Aral said that the tax cut had been “passed on in full”.

However, they have no influence on the price mechanisms of the market.

The industry association en2x also emphasized that the tank discount would be passed on.

However, the purchase prices of the petrol stations have risen massively.

"Since the start of the Ukraine war and even more so since mid-May, we have been experiencing a massive increase in product prices for petrol and diesel on the European and global markets," said a spokesman. This process is "completely independent of the German tank discount".

Without the tax cut, the price for E10 would be 2.30 euros and for diesel 2.13 euros per liter.

In fact, the price of diesel on the European market has risen by 10 percent since May 31, and the price of petrol by around 12.5 percent.

At the pump, the price increase since the introduction of the tank discount is currently between 4 and 5 percent.

The en2x association had already warned in the run-up to the tax cut that the tax system would mean that the discount would only be fully passed on with a delay.

The energy tax is due upon delivery, so fuels that are normally taxed are sold first.

This was also explicitly pointed out in the explanatory memorandum to the law.

In addition, one had warned of a sudden increase in demand.

The demand from the ranks of the SPD and Greens for a tax on alleged excess profits leads to conflicts in the traffic light coalition.

One does not know whether there are excess profits, said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner.

Tax increases could lead to shortages, and then even more increase prices.

The Cartel Office also dampened expectations.

You do your utmost to bring transparency to the pricing of the mineral oil companies.

However, high prices and the generation of high profits are not prohibited.

The chairman of the monopoly commission, Jürgen Kühling, considers the introduction of an excess profit tax to be worth considering.

The income could be used to cushion price increases, especially for poorer families, he told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.

From an economic point of view, the approach is preferable because it does not interfere with pricing.

At the same time, despite fundamental criticism of the instrument, Kühling warned against abolishing the tank discount "because this would drive up fuel prices".

Baden-Württemberg's FDP leader, Michael Theurer, criticized the lack of competition in the fuel market.

The increased fuel prices called for close monitoring by the antitrust authorities.

Ultimately, a demerger under European competition law or even a break-up of the mineral oil companies must be considered.