Diario Oficial de la República de Chile · 16 Sep 2026 · 5 vistas
Treasury sets variable components of the specific fuel tax
Por FactBox Admin
The Ministry of Finance has determined the variable components of the specific tax on fuels established in Law No. 18,502, the resulting rates of which will be effective as of September 17, 2026. The decision was formalized in Exempt Decree No. 266, dated September 15, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile (No. 44,552, Wednesday, September 16, 2026, pages 1 and 2, reference CVE 2873683).
The regulation is issued within the framework of the Fuel Price Stabilization Mechanism, created by Law No. 20,765 and expanded by Law No. 20,794, which allows for the periodic adjustment of the variable component of the tax to moderate the impact of international variations on the final price. The administrative act is based on the estimates of Article 3 of Law No. 20,765 and ordinary letters No. 887 and No. 889, both dated September 15, 2026, from the National Energy Commission.
Fixed variable components
The decree establishes the following variable components of the specific tax, expressed in UTM per cubic meter:
- 93-octane Automotive Gasoline: -2.8956 UTM/m³
- 97-octane Automotive Gasoline: -3.4965 UTM/m³
- Diesel Fuel: -4.2637 UTM/m³
- Vehicular Liquefied Petroleum Gas: 0.0004 UTM/m³
- Vehicular Compressed Natural Gas: 0.0006 UTM/1000 m³
These values are added to or subtracted from the base component as provided in Article 3 of Law No. 20,765 and Article 8 of its regulation, approved by Supreme Decree No. 1,119 of 2014.
Resulting tax rates
As a result of the application of the variable components, the specific tax rates for the week beginning Thursday, September 17, 2026, are as follows:
- 93-octane Automotive Gasoline: base 6.0000, variable -2.8956 → 3.1044 UTM/m³
- 97-octane Automotive Gasoline: base 6.0000, variable -3.4965 → 2.5035 UTM/m³
- Diesel Fuel: base 1.5000, variable -4.2637 → -2.7637 UTM/m³
- Vehicular Liquefied Petroleum Gas: base 1.4000, variable 0.0004 → 1.4004 UTM/m³
- Vehicular Compressed Natural Gas: base 1.9300, variable 0.0006 → 1.9306 UTM/1000 m³
The negative variable component for gasoline and diesel reduces the effective tax burden, while LPG and compressed natural gas show a slight increase.
Validity and publication
The variable components apply as of September 17, 2026, and the decree orders the publication of a technical report on the institutional website of the Ministry of Finance regarding what was decreed, in accordance with Article 5 of Law No. 20,765. The act was signed by order of the President of the Republic by Sebastián Vallebona Espinosa, Acting Minister of Finance, and its Official Gazette director is Giovanni Calderón Bassi.
The periodic update of these components directly affects the final price of fuels for all consumers by moderating the transmission of international market variations. With the effective reduction in gasoline and diesel, the measure seeks to contain energy costs within a context of reference price adjustments.
Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,552, September 16, 2026, General Norms, pp. 1-2 (official reference: CVE 2873683, exempt decree No. 266).