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Thermostat of a heating system: tax relief

Photo: Hauke-Christian Dittrich / dpa

According to the plans of the traffic light, the reduced VAT on gas and heat will now apply not only until the end of the year, but until the end of February. This is the result of a recommendation by the Finance Committee on the Growth Opportunities Act, which the Bundestag intends to pass on Friday.

Due to the high energy prices following the Russian attack on Ukraine, the German government had temporarily reduced the VAT rate for gas and heat from 19 to 7 percent. Actually, this special regulation was supposed to expire three months earlier than planned at the turn of the year, which meant that experts expected higher gas prices again in the middle of the heating season.

The German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) and the Association of Municipal Companies (VKU) criticised this – because the price brakes for electricity, gas and heat are to be extended until the end of March 2024 instead of expiring by the end of the year as previously planned. The Bundestag is expected to pass a resolution to this effect on Friday night.

"As understandable and sensible as it is not to increase the VAT reduction on gas and heat as early as 1 January 2024, as has been planned in the meantime, it is incomprehensible that its term has not been adapted to that of the energy price brakes, but is to end one month earlier," the two associations noted.

"The proposals with two changeover dates at 4-week intervals make the whole thing additional and unnecessarily complicated and incomprehensible for consumers: raising taxes because the crisis is over and at the same time extending price brakes because the crisis is still ongoing – that contradicts each other." It also increases the effort involved in billing.

Especially since many consumers are also facing new burdens in other areas. For example, the levy to finance gas storage will rise from 1.45 euros to 1.86 euros per megawatt hour from January. In addition, the CO₂ levy in the heating sector is to increase at the turn of the year.

ssu/dpa