Petrol tax hikes coming

The Herald reports:

Transport Minister Michael Wood said the first public draft of the Government’s next three-year transport budget would likely be published “approximately in the next month”.

Treasury warned at the Budget that rising costs in the transport sector, and a large loan granted to Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, may force the Government to hike fuel taxes as early July 1 next year. Such a hike would need to be signalled in the forthcoming budget.

When asked whether such a hike was on the table, Wood said he did not want to get ahead of Cabinet consideration of the budget, known formally as the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport, or GPS.

It is almost inevitable they will hike petrol tax because they no longer use it to primarily fund roads, but has become a cash cow for scores of transport projects that don’t benefit motorists.

In September 2017 the Government collected 93 cents in tax off every litre or petrol. After 1 July this year it will be approximately 137 cents in tax per litre – so the 44c extra per litre adds around $22 more per 50 litre fill.