August inflation activates the 20 cent discount on diesel due to the war in Iran

The escalation of inflation, which in August rose at the highest rate in three years due to the increase in fuel prices caused by the war in Iran, has activated the discount of 20 cents per liter of diesel in the hydrocarbon tax since this Tuesday. The price of this fuel shot up 15.7% in July, in a context in which the end of the war in the Middle East still seems far away. In fact, the new attack that the United States carried out on Sunday against Iranian territory has placed the price of a barrel of Brent above $90.

In the case of a liter of gasoline, the discount is reduced to 5 euros, given that its price did not register such a strong increase in price. Thus, in their case, the gradual withdrawal of the support measures provided for in the response plan to the consequences of the conflict continues.

The royal decree law approved at the end of June reformulated the tax aid for fuel that had been in force since March. In this way, the VAT returned to the general rate of 21% and the bonuses were concentrated in the hydrocarbon tax, with a decreasing discount (15 cents per liter in July, 10 cents in August and 5 cents in September).

The decree itself established that this progressive withdrawal of support measures could be interrupted if there was a significant increase in fuel prices, for which it regulated a safeguard clause.

Under this clause, if the consumer price index (CPI) for gasoline or diesel exceeded 15% in June, an extended discount of 20 cents per liter would be activated in August and if it did so in July, it would be applied in September. This is what happened in the case of diesel and that is why it will begin to be applied from this Tuesday.