Price hammer at the pump: fuel is more expensive than ever – and the state earns a lot! Almost half of the fuel price is made up of taxes and duties.
The demand for a “fuel price brake”, i.e. lower fuel taxes, to relieve motorists is therefore getting louder and louder.
More and more European neighbors are giving tax discounts:
► In Poland the VAT rate on petrol and diesel was reduced from 23 to 8 percent in February. This measure alone saved an average of 15 cents per liter of fuel. The Poles had already screwed on the fuel tax in December.
► In response to record gas prices, Netherlands from April 1st, fuel taxes will be reduced by 21 percentage points. This will make petrol 17 cents cheaper and diesel 11 cents cheaper.
► The French government is now intervening: the liter of fuel is in France discounted by 15 cents from April 1st.
► Ireland has announced that it will reduce taxes on diesel and gasoline. This should reduce the price of fuel by 15 to 20 cents per liter.
And Germany?
A liter of fuel is more expensive here than in almost any other country (diesel: 2.32 euros, super: 2.20 euros). Only Danes and Belgians have to pay a comparable amount for refuelling.
High-ranking politicians are therefore calling for the tax screw to be turned!
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (55, CSU) called for Interview with BILD am SONNTAGto reduce the VAT on petrol and diesel “immediately” from 19 percent to seven percent. In a second step, it could even be deleted entirely! It is “immoral that the state also earns a lot from rising energy prices with VAT”.
CDU social expert Marc Biadacz (42) also wants to reduce VAT. He said to BILD: “The way to work must not become a luxury for millions!”
Saarland head of state Tobias Hans (44, CDU) went viral last week with a similar demand: In a video on Twitter he called for an immediate “fuel price brake”, later including a reduction in VAT. The fuel price could be reduced by more than 50 cents, “starting from the current 2.15 euros for a liter of Super E10,” said Hans of the “Rheinische Post”.
► However, the Federal Government clearly rejected these demands. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (43, FDP) denied in the BILD talk “The Right Questions” the question of whether there were any considerations of reducing fuel taxes.
On Sunday, Lindner followed up in the “Tagesspiegel”, smirking at the demands: “If the Union calls for a so-called fuel price brake, then they have to say what they want to cut in the budget. Or they have to admit that they are willing to take on new debts.”
The Union owes clarity here. Lindner also claimed that the state would not benefit from higher fuel prices, because: “People will then hold back on consumption elsewhere.” The bottom line is that the state would not benefit.