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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s new diesel tax relief order seeks to lower immediate fuel costs for farmers and truckers. However, the measure could leave a tax bill to be paid later.

Signed Monday, the order directs the Treasury Department to pursue temporary tax deferrals and penalty relief for highway use of red-dyed diesel. Permanent forgiveness requires a separate step, and the administration has not guaranteed that postponed taxes will disappear.

The distinction affects businesses facing sharply higher fuel expenses during harvest season. It also complicates the White House’s description of the policy as opening access to tax-free fuel.

Meanwhile, federal and state relief operate under separate requirements. Louisiana’s existing waiver, for example, still requires payment of its state diesel tax.

Related coverage: Diesel Crisis: G7 Deal Leaves Questions About New Supply

What the diesel tax relief order provides

Under the Oct. 5 executive order, Treasury has five days to determine whether existing law authorizes the tax postponement and identify affected taxpayers.

If Treasury makes those findings, the directive covers specified tax obligations incurred from Oct. 5 through Dec. 31. Qualifying deferrals would carry no interest or penalties, to the extent authorized by law.

Separately, the order directs Treasury to have the IRS announce relief from specified penalties for selling or using dyed diesel on highways. That announcement must also address penalties associated with tax deposits.

However, the order leaves eventual payment deadlines to Treasury’s implementing guidance. Dec. 31 marks the end of the covered period, rather than establishing when postponed taxes must be paid.

A separate provision directs Treasury to explore forgiveness, including through legislation. Consequently, businesses cannot treat the order itself as a guarantee that the underlying tax obligation has been canceled.

The White House’s savings claim has conditions

In its announcement of the policy, the White House quoted Trump saying the measure would “allow anyone to purchase tax-free red dye diesel for any reason.”

The same announcement described the federal tax change as a deferral. It estimated approximately $60 in federal relief on a 250-gallon fill, based on the 24.4-cent-per-gallon diesel tax.

The administration said savings would exceed $100 per fill where states take matching action. Therefore, that larger figure depends on state participation and should not be read as a nationwide federal discount.

These estimates describe the administration’s expected benefits. They do not establish how much individual fuel sellers will reduce prices or whether deferred taxes will ultimately be forgiven.

Why dyed diesel has different tax rules

Red dye identifies diesel intended for uses that generally qualify for fuel-tax exemptions, including farming, heating and off-highway business operations. Ordinarily, putting that fuel into a highway vehicle can trigger both a tax obligation and a penalty.

Existing IRS emergency-relief procedures illustrate the distinction. Under those procedures, waiving the highway-use penalty generally still requires the operator or seller to pay the applicable federal tax.

Those procedures also preserve environmental requirements. Penalty relief does not authorize highway use of fuel that fails applicable federal standards.

Responsibility for unpaid tax can also extend beyond the fuel retailer. IRS Publication 510 explains that the vehicle operator generally owes the backup tax when dyed fuel enters a highway vehicle for a taxable use.

A seller can share liability when it knows, or has reason to know, the fuel will be used that way. That existing framework makes Treasury’s identification of covered taxpayers and liabilities particularly important for both businesses and drivers.

Louisiana and Alabama have separate relief measures

Louisiana already provides a clear example of why penalty relief does not necessarily eliminate fuel taxes.

The Louisiana Department of Revenue’s Sept. 24 bulletin establishes temporary penalty relief for eligible Class 2 and Class 5 vehicles. The covered period runs from Sept. 23 through Oct. 22.

However, an operator qualifies only if the operator or fuel seller pays Louisiana’s 20-cent-per-gallon excise tax. The bulletin therefore permits specified highway uses while preserving the state tax requirement.

In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey directed the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on Sept. 24 to halt dyed diesel enforcement for 120 days. Her announcement described the action as relief for agricultural and timber communities.

Ivey also instructed the state revenue commissioner to request federal penalty relief. That request and Alabama’s enforcement directive were separate actions involving different authorities.

The White House’s fact sheet likewise calls for states to adopt corresponding policies. Businesses operating across state lines consequently face an additional question: which state requirements apply along their routes?

Diesel prices were already moving lower

The latest federal price data show some relief at the pump before the new order’s effects could be evaluated.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a national on-highway diesel average of $6.199 a gallon for Oct. 5. That was down 18.3 cents from the previous week, although it remained $2.488 above the year-earlier level.

The Gulf Coast average fell to $5.819, while California averaged $8.082. Both figures include taxes and demonstrate how widely fuel costs vary across the country.

Because these readings describe prices on the day Trump signed the order, they do not establish a price reduction caused by its implementation.

Harvest costs explain the urgency

For farmers, the increase has arrived after many committed to planting and production budgets.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System reported farm-use diesel averaging $5.42 a gallon in the week ending Sept. 18. That compared with $2.73 during January and February, when many producers were preparing their budgets.

Auburn University researchers estimated that higher diesel prices would add approximately $247 million to harvesting costs for four crops across 13 Southern states. Their analysis covered corn, cotton, peanuts and soybeans.

Moreover, the estimate excluded fuel needed to transport harvested crops to their first buyers. Those additional trips further expose producers to highway fuel costs.

Tax relief leaves supply problems unresolved

Fuel availability remains a separate challenge.

The International Energy Agency said Oct. 2 that refined-product shipments from the Middle East remained severely constrained. It also identified Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries as an additional source of pressure on diesel supplies.

Although Middle Eastern crude exports had recovered significantly, the agency said diesel markets remained tight. Changing tax payment rules does not by itself resolve those production and shipping constraints.

For farmers, truckers and fuel sellers, the next consequential details concern implementation: who qualifies, how transactions are handled and when deferred payments become due. Whether temporary diesel tax relief becomes permanent savings will also depend on the administration’s separate effort to forgive the taxes.