It's time to fill up your tank before October 1. At the end of the month, the tax on gasoline will increase by 1.03 kronor per liter, including VAT. Diesel will also become 40 öre more expensive.
The reason is that the tax on fossil fuels, temporarily reduced by the government this spring, will end.
Three kronor more
The same thing will probably happen again on December 1, when the temporary carbon dioxide tax returns to previous levels. At that time, the price of both diesel and gasoline is expected to rise by 3 kronor per liter.
At the same time, global energy prices are at significantly elevated levels. Add to this an increasingly weaker krona that makes imports more expensive, and the price of diesel could reach 28-29 kronor per liter by Christmas.
How do customers act then, do they think less about taxes being raised or vice versa when taxes were lowered this summer? The effect is not entirely easy to see, according to Viktor Gunnarsson, responsible for competitiveness issues and taxes at Drivkraft Sverige.
There are so many other reasons that also play a role. For example, world market prices at the time, which can reinforce or counteract, he says.
The volumes of gasoline and diesel sold rose significantly in July, after the major tax cut of 3 kronor per liter on July 1. Several factors may have played a role, such as how people take vacations.
But it can also be about refueling in neighboring countries, says Viktor Gunnarsson, who points out that Sweden has the cheapest fuel prices in Western Europe.
Difficulty changing behavior
So what could possibly happen on December 1?
If this theory about June-July were correct, it would perhaps be the case that volumes would be abnormally high in November and decline slightly in December, he says.
However, motorists' sensitivity to price changes has proven to be relatively limited.
It is difficult to change short-term behavior in how you drive your car, but it is more possible to do so over a longer period of time, says Viktor Gunnarsson.
"We saw no direct impact on our sales when fuel taxes were lowered and we also do not expect a major impact on our fuel volumes sold when the tax is increased," OKQ8's press department says in an email response.
