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  "description": "When prices rise, families feel it immediately. When tax revenue rises, the government feels it immediately too – but silently.",
  "path": "/a-win-for-the-government/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-23T22:30:51.000Z",
  "site": "https://goodoil.news",
  "tags": [
    "Pee Kay",
    "No Minister"
  ],
  "textContent": "Pee Kay\n_No Minister_\n\n _From one of my mailing group_\n\n**Why Petrol Prices Jumped – and Why the Government Quietly Wins Every Time**\n\nOver the past week, petrol prices have climbed from under $3 per litre to around **$3.22 for 91 octane**.\n\nMost people assume this is just the global market doing what it does. But there’s a detail almost nobody talks about:\n\nWhen petrol prices rise, the government gets an automatic tax windfall – **even though none of the fuel excise rates change at all**.\n\nHere’s how it works.\n\n**FIXED TAXES VS PERCENTAGE TAXES**\n\nFuel taxes come in two layers:\n\n**1. FIXED EXCISE TAXES (ABOUT 77 CENTS PER LITRE)**\n\nThese don’t change when the price goes up. They’re flat.\n\n**2. GST (15%)**\n\nThis  _does_ change – because GST is charged on the entire pump price, including the excise. That means when the price rises, GST rises with it.\n\nIt’s literally a **tax on a tax**.\n\n**WHAT THE LATEST PRICE JUMP MEANS**\n\nA move from **$2.95 → $3.22 per litre** increases the GST take by about:\n\n**Four cents per litre**\n\nThat doesn’t sound like much – until you scale it.\n\nAny country – but a small one like New Zealand that burns through a mere **2.2 billion litres of petrol per year** , multiply it out:\n\n**≈ $82–$90 MILLION EXTRA TAX REVENUE PER YEAR**\n\n…from this one price jump alone.\n\nNo legislation.\nNo public announcement.\nNo debate.\nJust an automatic windfall.\n\n**WHERE DOES THAT MONEY GO?**\n\nThat’s the part nobody can answer – because there is no public reporting mechanism that tracks GST windfalls from fuel price movements.\n\nThere is no line item.\nNo disclosure requirement.\nNo explanation of how the extra revenue is allocated.\n\nIn a cost‑of‑living crisis, that lack of transparency matters.\n\nIf households are paying more every week, the least the public deserves is clarity about where the extra money goes – and whether it is being used to relieve pressure, or simply absorbed into the general Crown account.\n\n**WHY THIS MATTERS**\n\nWhen prices rise, families feel it immediately.\nWhen tax revenue rises, the government feels it immediately too – but silently.\n\nThis isn’t about blaming any particular government.\nIt’s about transparency.\n\nIf the government receives an extra **$80–$90 million a year** from a price spike, the public should know:\n\n  * Was this expected?\n  * Was it discussed internally?\n  * Was it allocated to anything specific?\n  * Or is it simply treated as a quiet bonus?\n\n\n\nThis article was published by No Minister.",
  "title": "A Win for the Government?",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-23T22:30:50.780Z"
}