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The taxes we pay twice: from fuel to food

2026-04-23 18:58:54Pikëpamje SHKRUAR NGA RILDO NGJELA
Rildo Ngjela

To date, the discussion of fuel price increases has been incomplete. Global prices, exchange rates, the war in Iran and Ukraine, imports, the Transparency Board setting daily caps, etc. are mentioned. Meanwhile, we forget an essential truth: We don't just pay for fuel when we fill up our car. We pay for fuel again in the price of bread, water, milk, fruits and vegetables, medicines, transportation, building materials, and almost every other product that comes to us by sea, land, and air.

This is why the circulation tax in Albania can no longer be considered a transportation tax. It has become a tax on our daily lives.

Today, every liter of fuel, before it reaches the consumer, carries a heavy tax burden. Starting from the sales tax, to the excise tax, the carbon tax and then the VAT that is applied on a taxable basis, which now includes these costs. The first payment of the sales tax is direct every time we are supplied with fuel. So far so good. Then we pay it again, but this time silently and with consequences, even more so for those who do not have a vehicle, such as pensioners.

The bakery pays sales tax on flour. The farmer pays sales tax on his produce. The pharmacy pays sales tax on medicines. Supermarkets and shops pay sales tax on consumer goods. Construction companies pay sales tax on every material. In the end, any added cost is paid by us.

The same family that pays sales tax at the gas station pays it again at the supermarket. But again, this is not “double taxation” in the legal sense. This is a double economic burden.

In a country like Albania, where land transport dominates domestic trade, heavy taxation of fuel translates into taxation of economic turnover. Fuel is not a luxury input. It is the main mechanism that moves food, medicine, workers, goods and services. So when fuel is taxed aggressively, the consequences do not stop at drivers. They gradually and silently spread to inflation.

At this point, the question arises: Where is the consumer protection?

Consumer protection institutions, which we are unclear about, are expected to protect the economic interests of citizens. However, for one of the most visible and painful cost factors in family budgets, the response has been weak and fragmented. No clarity, no transparency, no control, no reporting. To date, the consumer has been left to the point where he has only started complaining after prices increase, instead of protecting himself before the burden multiplies.

The issue is not whether or not the state has the right to tax fuel. Every state taxes fuel. The issue is whether the Albanian state can justify maintaining a rigid tax burden on fuel while citizens pay that cost twice: once directly and once indirectly.

At this point, it is possible to take some measures.

First, the authorities should review the turnover tax and introduce a more flexible mechanism. When global fuel prices increase beyond a certain threshold, not only should part of the excise tax be reduced, but one of the other taxes should also be temporarily suspended. In this case, the turnover tax of 27 lek/liter could be suspended and, together with the halving of the excise tax from 40 to 20 lek/liter, a reduction of 47 lek/liter could be made. In this scenario, the maximum price, specifically of diesel, would remain at a maximum level of 200 lek/liter, as far as we have seen so far from the consequences of the crisis.

Second, the government should target relief for sectors that directly impact household costs, such as food logistics, public transportation, distribution of agricultural products, and the medicine supply chain.

Third, citizens deserve full transparency. Every week, authorities should publish a clear breakdown of fuel prices including import costs, excise duty, sales tax, carbon tax, VAT, wholesale margin, and retail margin.

Fourth, consumer protection institutions, which I repeat, we do not know who they are, should measure and publish how fuel taxation affects the price of essential goods that ensure livelihoods. If fuel taxation increases the cost of bread and milk, citizens have the right to know by how much. While for these institutions this is a legal obligation.

Currently, we are not just paying for fuel. We are funding a tax system that is following us from the gas pump to the dinner table.


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