The Treasury takes advantage of the gasoline IEPS… and gains in revenue

“If we continue as we are, I believe that we will reach almost 350,000 million pesos. It will be the first time, compared to the other years that are in green, that there will be a greater amount of tax receipts.
“What has happened is that the price of a barrel of oil has remained stable; there is no need to expand them (stimuli). And what the government says is that if I do not give them stimuli, inflation will not affect me,” Ramses commented. Pech, energy and economics industry analyst, partner at Caraiva y Asociados-León & Pech Architects.

The objective of granting discounts to IEPS fees is to amortize the price escalation when oil prices increase (mainly in the United States, Mexico’s main fuel supplier). On the contrary, when prices remain stable or do not have large increases, the Treasury charges IEPS fees completely or with small discounts, which helps collect tax revenue.

These fees change every week, and are published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, they have a limit amount that is published in December of each year, and apply to the following year; For example, at the end of 2023 the applicable quotas for all of 2024 were published.

The IEPS fee has increased considerably from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of this year. For Magna it went from 3.12 pesos per liter to 5.51 pesos, average, that is, still with some stimuli. That of Premium, a fuel that has not had a stimulus this year, went from 3.66 pesos per liter to 5.21 pesos. And the diesel price went from 2.46 pesos per liter, average, to 6.25 pesos.

Pressure on gasoline prices?

The 100% IEPS quota on gasoline can generate pressure for its increase in Mexico.

In January-April of last year, the price of Magna gasoline was 21.84 pesos, in the same period this year, the liter of this fuel averaged 22.98 pesos, this represented an increase of 5.2%, an index greater than the increase in prices (accumulated inflation) from April 2023 to April 2024, which was 4.65%, according to Inegi data.

From one year to the next, the IEPS fee is adjusted according to inflation. However, in the first quarter of this year, the proportion of this federal tax, with respect to the final price, increased considerably, compared to the same period in 2023, according to Treasury data.

In January-April 2023 this proportion was 14.29% of the final price per liter of Magna, in 2024 it rose to 24%. That of Premium went from 15.18% to 21.09%, and that of diesel increased from 10.39% of its final price per liter to 25.17%.

With information from Patricia Tapia Cervantes.