Article · Energy · Money and markets
Poland caps diesel at about €1.80 from 3 October. Who pays for it: the oil companies or the budget?
On 1 October 2026 Polish President Karol Nawrocki signed a law that from 1 November 2026 will tax fuel companies' excess profits (60 percent for producers, 50 percent for traders) and at the same time sent it to the Constitutional Tribunal. From 3 October, VAT on fuel in Poland falls from 23 to 8 percent, excise is cut, and the maximum diesel price is 7.88 zloty, about €1.80 a litre. On the government estimates quoted by Polish media, the tax cuts cost the budget more (about 5.3 billion zloty) than the new levy is expected to raise (about 4 billion zloty).
From 3 October 2026 a Polish driver pays at most about €1.80 for a litre of diesel, and the cut is paid for from two pockets, the bigger of which does not belong to the oil companies.
Every European government facing high fuel prices has the same choice: let taxpayers carry the cost through lower fuel taxes, or make the companies carry it through a levy on their profits. Poland decided on 1 October to do both at once. The published numbers show which side carries more.