Some Auckland motorists found the cost of filling up their tank a bit cheaper on Thursday thanks to The Taxpayers' Union, who wanted to highlight how much a petrol bill is comprised of taxes and levies.
For a period today the group refunded motorists the fuel tax and levy component of their bill at a Gull petrol station in Takapuna.
Plenty of motorists took the opportunity to get a discount, with one woman telling 1News she'd got about $36 back, from a $70 fill.
She would be putting the savings towards another household expense.
"To be honest, probably some groceries, which is also really expensive at the moment, but young family, gotta spend it on food."
According to MBIE, 77.274 cents per litre was collected by the Government as fuel excise and levies, excluding GST.
"In Auckland, 52 per cent of the price of a litre of petrol is made up of taxes and levies," Taxpayers' Union spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke said.
"We will be handing refuellers cash to refund them for the tax they pay on their fuel purchase.
"Consumers are often unaware of what goes into the prices they pay, and this is most striking with petrol prices
"The Taxpayers' Union has called on the Government to rein in the cost of living by cutting the excise tax on petrol.
"Fuel costs filter through to the price of every single household good, driving inflation and putting strain on household budgets."
The union has launched a petition calling on the Government to "significantly" reduce the excise tax on petrol.
According to Statistics New Zealand, petrol prices saw a sharp 30 per cent increase in the year to December 2021 quarter, with the average cost of one litre of 91 octane petrol rising to $2.45 compared with $1.87 per litre in the December 2020 quarter.
Prices are currently higher at the pump.
The bulk of the cost is tax and levies, making up 52 per cent of the price.
The Automobile Association says the spike in prices is due to the cost of getting fuel to New Zealand.
"The price of oil has gone up 15 per cent and that’s around the tensions that exist with the Ukraine border," the AA’s Terry Collins told Breakfast earlier this month.
There is also the uncertainty brought on by the supply and demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gull told 1News the union had been in touch about the stunt to ensure it was done safely.
It was happy for it to go ahead.
Last month, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand was not alone in experiencing high rates of inflation.
"Those are very much predicated on a global environment."
She said oil prices and international tensions were having an impact on petrol prices.
When asked if the Government had considered cutting fuel tax, Ardern said they were keeping an eye on the market, "but New Zealand is alongside every other country who is experiencing exactly this issue when it comes to oil prices".
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