Germany: ‘Extortion’ of hundreds of euros for natural gas

An additional burden, in addition to the already increased bills, is caused for households in Germany by the “special tax for natural gas”, which is imposed in October.

The “special fee” is set at 2.4 euros per kilowatt-hour and essentially passes on to consumption the increased cost of companies forced to import natural gas from other suppliers at higher prices after the drastic reduction in energy supplies from Russia. It will be paid from October 2022 until March 2024 by all households, as well as businesses that supply natural gas. Quarterly the data will be reviewed and the “special fee” will be adjusted if necessary. For industry alone, the additional economic burden is estimated at 5.7 billion euros, of which 50% is attributed to the chemical industry, glass and metallurgy.

The burden on households

Even without the “special fee” household gas bills are set to rise significantly next winter. According to calculations by the financial website Business Insider, the average price of a kilowatt hour of natural gas can even reach 25 cents in winter, compared to 6.5 cents today. This means that, for example, a household with one person and a consumption of 6,000 kilowatt hours will be asked to pay around 800 euros more. For a couple with a consumption of 10,000 kilowatt hours, the additional charge reaches 1,850 euros. Of course, these are indicative figures and the charges may be different, depending on the area of ​​the house being heated and the energy security specifications (insulation, etc.).

However, the “special fee” is added to these charges. Thus, the financial website Check24 calculates that a couple in an apartment of 100 sq.m. with a consumption of 12,000 kilowatt hours he will pay almost 360 euros extra, just for the “special fee”. The amount includes the current 19% VAT. Finance Minister Christian Lindner, in a bid to ease the burden on households, has asked the EU for a temporary exemption from VAT on the “special levy”, but has so far received no response from Brussels.

Proposals for household relief

After all this, the political parties rush to submit proposals for a comprehensive relief for households. The vice president of K.O. of the Christian Democrats (CDU) Jens Spahn brought back the proposal to cap the price of natural gas up to a certain consumption limit, which would be an incentive to save energy. “Those who consume more, it makes sense to pay more,” Spahn points out on German television’s (ARD) morning magazine. At the same time, he accused the coalition parties of a lack of coordination. “They immediately agreed on the burden on the consumer, but now that they are called to relieve the consumer, everyone is proposing their own,” says the Christian Democrat politician in a biting tone.

His counterpart in the “camp” of the co-ruling Social Democrats (SPD), Matias Miers, argues that targeted measures are needed for the weaker incomes and with a direct impact on the consumer’s pocket, not tax breaks that will bear fruit in 2024. At the same time, speaking to ARD, the social democrat politician supports liberal finance minister christian lindner’s proposal to reduce or temporarily exempt the “special duty” VAT. In addition, he proposes the extension of the “ticket of 9 euros” for public transport from the autumn, which the Minister of Finance has so far rejected.

Finally, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, which is close to the Party of the Left (Die Linke), is bringing back the proposal to tax the super profits of the energy giants, which the finance minister also rejects. The authors of a related study, released on Tuesday, argue that the measure could bring in additional revenue of at least 30 billion euros a year.

Giannis Papadimitriou (DPA, ARD)

Source: Deutsche Welle