In a month, how much is the reduced amount in application excise taxes on fuel, a rough estimate shows that the state coffers are probably lighter by about four billion dinars, or more than 30 million euros, writes Demostat.
Let's remind, at the beginning of February, Vlada within the framework of regular reconciliation with the average inflation from 2025, increased excise duties on fuel, which were set at 72 dinars per liter for unleaded gasoline and 74,04 dinars per liter for diesel.
Nevertheless, in the first reaction, Serbia decided to reduce the newly determined amount of excise duty in order to amortize the price shock in the procurement of crude oil with lower fiscal burdens.
Excise duties were lowered by 20 percent, and then by 25 percent with a limited duration, which is now limited to April 24. According to the new calculation, 54 dinars of excise duty is added to the production price of a liter of unleaded gasoline, instead of 72, and 53,5 dinars instead of 74 dinars per liter to diesel.
The value added tax (VAT) is also calculated on the price formed in this way, but on this basis, the revenue to the state budget will not be significantly reduced, because a significant part that is lost due to lower excise taxes, is compensated from the increased price of oil derivatives, which is also part of the base for calculating VAT.
The biggest revenues come from VAT, followed by excise taxes
According to the planned budget for 2026, in which tax revenues usually account for more than 86 percent of the total inflow, the largest share of the projected 2.080 billion dinars will be collected from VAT.
This year, on that basis, the amount of 1.084 billion dinars is expected, which is almost 45 percent of the total tax inflows to the budget.
The second highest revenue, with a share of 19 percent, comes from excise taxes. It is planned that 3,87 billion euros will be collected on this basis.
More than half of the excise revenue is collected from the marketing of oil derivatives, more than two billion euros, which means that a little more than every tenth tax dinar in the budget comes from this niche, more precisely 10,1 percent of the tax revenue is provided by the collection of excise duties on oil derivatives.
Although the calculations for the first quarter have not yet been reduced, for the month that the excise duty has been reduced, a rough estimate shows that the state coffers are probably lighter by about four billion dinars, which is more than 30 million euros.
Expensive fuel despite concessions
It is difficult to estimate how long the budget will be able to withstand reduced excise duties, and it is even more difficult to explain the price enigma, which, despite this relief, is among the most expensive in the world.
Out of 169 countries ranked from the cheapest to the most expensive, Serbia occupies a high 130th place in terms of the price of gasoline and 131st in terms of the price of diesel, Demostat added.
According to data from the GlobalPetrolPrices website, on April 13 of this year, the cheapest diesel is found in Venezuela, where you pay 0,004 US dollars for a liter, while the cheapest gasoline is poured in Libya and Iran for only 0,024 dollars.
From the Serbian "facilitated" price, gasoline is cheaper, among others, at pumps in North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Slovenia, while it is more expensive in Croatia, Greece, Romania, Albania and Germany.
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