Petrol tax
When you last bought petrol, over $1.20 per litre was collected by the government as fuel excise, duties and taxes (as of mid-2024).
Motorists are charged GST on the fuel excise, which amounts to a tax on a tax. The AA has called for the GST on excise to be removed - a move that would currently reduce prices by nearly 35 cents per litre.
Fuel excise (petrol)
The fuel excise portion includes:
Did you know?
It's now government policy for all petrol tax to be directed back into New Zealand's road and transport system. The AA lobbied hard on behalf of motorists to finally see this implemented in 2008.
Previously, over a third of the tax collected on petrol was diverted by the government to other areas of spending.
- 70.024 cents - National Land Transport Fund
- 6 cents - ACC Motor Vehicle Account
- 0.66 cents - Local Authorities Fuel Tax
- 0.72 cents - Petroleum or Engine Fuels Monitoring Levy
In addition, GST is collected on the overall price of fuel, including the excise (which is essentially a "tax on a tax"). This amounts to another 36 cents for fuel retailing at $2.75 per litre.
There are no excise taxes on diesel other than 0.33 cents Local Authorities Fuel Tax, and GST. But diesel vehicles also pay Road User Charges so that they contribute in total about the same as petrol vehicles.
All fuels also pay an Emissions Trading Scheme levy, which in recent years has added on average about 14 cents per litre (it changes depending on the price of ETS units, which in recent years has varied between around $50-$70 per tonne of emissions).
It is government policy for all of the petrol excise tax that motorists pay to be directed to the National Land Transport Fund for investment back into New Zealand's land transport system. The AA lobbied hard on behalf of motorists for many years to have all the taxes devoted to road building and maintenance, road safety education and enforcement, and subsidies for public transport.
Previously, about 19 cents per litre of the tax motorists paid on petrol was diverted by the government to non-road and transport related projects, but this stopped happening from July 2008.