Written answers
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Department of Finance
Tax Code
5:00 pm
Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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Question 74: To ask the Minister for Finance the excise his Department charges on a litre of petrol and diesel; his plans to cut the excise duty; the amount excise has increased over the past five years; the amount taken in taxes for each of those five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36637/08]
Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Budget 2009 provided for an increase in the excise rate on petrol to 50.9 cent per litre and for no change to excise on diesel which remains at 36.8 cent per litre. This means that excise on petrol in Ireland is still substantially lower than the EU 15 average and excise on diesel is also below the EU 15 average. It should also be noted that the excise rates on both fuels are below the rates of our main trading partners, in particular the UK rate where excise on petrol and diesel is around 63 cent per litre.
I have no plans to reduce the excise rates on either of these fuels. The Budgetary excise changes (VAT inclusive) since 2003 are set out in the following table.
| Budgetary Excise Changes (VAT inclusive) since 2003 | ||
| Budget | Petrol | Diesel |
| 2003 | no change | increased by 3 cent |
| 2004 | increased by 5 cent | increased by 5 cent |
| 2005 | no change | no change |
| 2006 | no change | no change |
| 2007 | no change | no change |
| 2008 | no change | no change |
| 2009 | increased by 8 cent | no change |
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the amounts of tax revenue collected from Mineral Oil Tax and VAT on Petrol and Auto Diesel for the years 2003 to August 2008 inclusive are as follows:
| Estimated Duty yield from Petrol and Auto Diesel | ||||||
| Mineral Oil Tax | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 Provisional | 2008 End August Provisional |
| â'¬m | â'¬m | â'¬m | â'¬m | â'¬m | â'¬m | |
| Petrol | 853.8 | 970.7 | 1001.9 | 1026.4 | 1051.3 | 724.6 |
| Auto-diesel | 731.5 | 870.7 | 920.5 | 1016.7 | 1076.3 | 738.2 |
| Total | 1585.3 | 1841.5 | 1922.4 | 2043.1 | 2127.6 | 1462.8 |
| Estimated VAT yield from Petrol and Auto Diesel | ||||||
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 End August | |
| â'¬m | â'¬m | â'¬m | â'¬m | â'¬m | â'¬m | |
| Petrol | 296 | 342 | 393 | 440 | 465 | 352 |
| Auto-diesel | 32 | 38 | 46 | 53 | 57 | 46 |
| Total | 329 | 380 | 439 | 493 | 522 | 398 |
| Note: The VAT yield from Petrol and Auto Diesel is estimated, as the information to be furnished on VAT returns does not require the yield from particular sectors of trade to be identified. It should also be noted that the VAT content of purchases of Auto Diesel is a deductible credit for business in the Irish VAT system. |
The figures provided for VAT receipts for 2008 are estimates of the amount of VAT yield that would be generated by the volume of clearances of oil products up to the end of August. Mineral Oil Tax is paid in the month of clearance of the product but, depending on the nature of the registration status of a trader, VAT returns can be made monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annually and this will dictate the point in time when VAT on sales will actually be paid.
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