Status: 14.09.2021 10:58 a.m.
Many people got a dog in the pandemic. The trend is filling the coffers of cities and municipalities. Within a decade, the spending of German households on dog tax has risen by almost half.
The trend towards buying a pet brought the public coffers more income from the dog tax than ever before in the Corona year 2020. According to calculations by the Federal Statistical Office, the state received around 380 million euros from this tax. That was almost three percent more than the year before and a record value.
According to the Association for German Dogs (VDH), around 20 percent more dogs were bought last year than in previous years. The dog tax is levied by cities and municipalities. At the beginning of this year, the development accelerated further: In the first quarter, the dog tax income amounted to around 159 million euros. They were thus more than eight percent above the level of the same quarter of the previous year.
Longer term trend
Even in the long term, households in Germany let their love for dogs cost more and more. In ten years her dog tax expenses increased by almost half.
The exact amount and structure of the tax depends on the respective place of residence. “In many places, the amount that dog owners have to pay also depends on the number of dogs in the household or on the breed of dog,” explains the Federal Statistical Office.
Feed prices are rising moderately
According to the statistics office, the prices for dog and cat food have only risen below average recently. In August, the owners had to spend 2.2 percent more on the food of their four-legged friends. The increase was thus well below the general price increase of 3.9 percent, which in August had climbed to the highest level for almost 28 years.