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Cost of Living

Inflation, groceries, energy, and the real purchasing power of a paycheque.

John Deere tractor with trailer in the Netherlands, illustrating farm diesel use, not a U.S. farm — Photo: joost j. bakker, CC BY 2.0

Cost of Living|United States

IRS waives dyed-diesel highway penalties through year-end; 7508A tax deferral guidance still to come

IR-2026-122 (14 October 2026) says the IRS will not impose section 6715 penalties when dyed diesel is sold for or used on U.S. highways. Relief is retroactive to 1 October and runs to 31 December 2026; federal fuel-tank inspections for on-road dyed fuel are suspended for that window. The agency still says it will issue further guidance on postponing the backup diesel taxes under 26 U.S.C. 7508A — that piece is not in this release. State fuel taxes are unaffected.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre
Berlaymont building, European Commission, Brussels — Photo: EmDee, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cost of Living|European Union

Brussels clears €40.5 million in cheap French loans for farmers, fishers and hauliers hit by fuel prices

On 9 October 2026 the European Commission approved two French state-aid schemes under its Middle East crisis framework: €17.2 million for agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture and €23.3 million for transport. Firms whose fuel bill is at least 5% of turnover can borrow €5,000 to €50,000 at a fixed 3.8%, state-guaranteed, for up to three years with a year’s grace on principal. It is French money, not an EU grant.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre
Syncrude Mildred Lake plant, Alberta — illustrative oil-processing image; not a Russian or U.S. facility — Photo: TastyCakes / Jamitzky, public domain

Cost of Living|United States

Treasury licenses imports of Russian diesel into the U.S. until April 2027

On 9 October 2026 the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued Russia-related General License 135. It authorizes transactions tied to the sale, delivery, offloading and importation, including into the United States, of diesel fuel of Russian origin that sanctions rules would otherwise bar, until 12:01 a.m. EDT on 7 April 2027. It is a time-limited licence, not a lifting of sanctions: no one was removed from the sanctions list, and Russia’s central bank, sovereign wealth fund and finance ministry remain shut out of U.S. accounts under it.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre
Centre Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa — Photo: Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0

Cost of Living|Canada

PBO: the federal fuel-tax pause costs $4.9 billion this year and saves the average family $276, with top earners getting 3.5 times what the lowest get

A Parliamentary Budget Officer cost estimate for Bill C-38, published 8 October 2026, puts the cost of suspending federal fuel excise taxes from 20 April 2026 to 31 January 2027, then halving them to 31 March, at $4.943 billion in 2026-27. Average savings are $276 per family, from $132 in the lowest income quintile to $468 in the highest. The House has agreed to sit until midnight on 19 October to deal with C-38.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre
Centre Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa — Photo: Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0

Cost of Living|Canada

House rejects Conservative motion to scrap diesel taxes until Canada Day, 196–133

The first opposition day of the fall sitting, 6 October 2026, is a Conservative motion calling on the government to eliminate all taxes on diesel consumption until at least Canada Day, permanently eliminate taxes on diesel production, and fast-track refineries, pipelines and storage. The vote must be held by 5:30 p.m. It is non-binding, and it does not say which taxes it means. Update, 8 October: the House negatived the motion on 7 October, 133–196.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre
Syncrude Mildred Lake plant, Alberta — Canadian oil production, not a strategic reserve site — Photo: TastyCakes / Jamitzky, public domain

Cost of Living|Canada, United States, European Union, World

G7 orders a 100-million-barrel oil and diesel release; Canada holds no emergency stocks to draw

On 2 October 2026 G7 leaders agreed a coordinated IEA release of 100 million barrels over four months, with a front-loaded diesel release within 20 days, plus refinery-maintenance coordination and a pledge against energy export bans among members. Canada, a net exporter, has no IEA stockholding obligation and no public emergency oil stocks, so its role is on the refinery and supply side.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre