Status: 05/20/2022 09:46 a.m
Today the Federal Council is to approve the reductions in energy costs. According to comparison portals, they do not even cushion the current price increases by half. Meanwhile, gas stations warn of bottlenecks.
Despite the Federal Government’s planned relief package, the rising energy costs are a considerable burden on citizens, according to calculations by the comparison portal Verivox and the Taxpayers’ Association. According to this, the annual energy costs for a model household of four with two children between April 2021 and 2022 increased by 2408 euros to 6269 euros. This corresponds to an increase of 62 percent. The basis is the April energy prices, which are assumed for the entire year 2022.
Today the Federal Council is dealing with the relief package to cushion rising energy prices. According to Verivox, this dampens the price increases for the model family by only 1035 euros, i.e. by less than half. On the agenda for the final consultation of the federal states on numerous legislative projects of the traffic light coalition are measures intended to bring financial relief in taxes, energy and transport. Families should also be relieved.
High burden for families
Part of the package of laws are, among other things, the 9-euro ticket approved yesterday by the Bundestag, the also decided reduction of the energy tax on fuels to reduce the sharp rise in fuel prices and the energy price flat rate of 300 euros, which workers are to receive in autumn. In addition, an increase in the commuter allowance and the so-called basic allowance are planned, which will reduce the tax burden – and a reduction in the so-called EEG surcharge to reduce electricity prices. Finally, special payments for families should also be discussed.
Critics consider the relief package to be insufficient. According to a recent study by the Hans Böckler Foundation, it only helps to a limited extent. For example, single parents with a net income of up to 2,600 euros would be relieved by the government of 629 euros for the year as a whole. However, the price increases for energy and food meant additional costs of 330 euros for them from January to April alone. Even for couples with two children, where one parent works, the additional costs by April already amount to more than half of the relief for the whole year.
The package has also met with criticism from social organizations. “The relief package not only shows an extreme social imbalance, but is also counterproductive in terms of climate policy,” said Ulrich Schneider, general manager of the joint association, the “Rheinische Post”. The higher the power consumption, the higher the relief amount. The same applies to the tank discount.
Heating oil price increased by 144 percent
The Association of Taxpayers is also demanding more tax relief for citizens than previously planned. “The government must make significant improvements and adjust the 2022 income tax rate to inflation in such a way that the tax authorities do not become inflation winners,” said President Reiner Holznagel. The tax brackets were to be changed in such a way that higher rates would only be due if the income was higher than before.
The comparison portal Verivox assumes a family of four with an annual heating requirement of 20,000 kilowatt hours (kWh), an electricity consumption of 4000 kWh and an annual mileage of 13,300 kilometers. Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Economics Minister Robert Habeck recently emphasized that the state could not completely absorb the economic consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, but only mitigate them.
“The consequences of the corona pandemic and the Russian attack on Ukraine have driven energy prices up sharply worldwide. Whether it’s electricity, gas, heating oil or fuel: all types of energy are scratching their highs or have even exceeded them,” said Verivox energy expert Thorsten Storck dpa. Heating oil customers in particular are suffering from the price development. The increase is 144 percent. Gas prices doubled over the course of the year and electricity prices increased by 30 percent.
Bottlenecks at the pumps cannot be ruled out
Motorists are also heavily burdened by high prices at the petrol pumps. According to Verivox, the cost of petrol rose by 35 percent over the year. 56 percent more had to be paid for diesel. Therefore, the so-called tank discount should help. Energy tax will be reduced for three months from June 1st.
As a result, the petrol station industry is preparing for possible bottlenecks at the petrol pumps. “A high demand from motorists will meet a low supply,” warned Duraid El Obeid, chairman of the Federal Association of Free Petrol Stations, in the “Rheinische Post”. At Aral it said: “We are prepared, the logistics chains are robust, so that deliveries to gas stations at short notice are also possible.” The consumer advice center in North Rhine-Westphalia advises that because of the impending bottlenecks on June 1, “no one should almost completely empty their tank beforehand”.
The general manager of the Fuels and Energy Association, Christian Küchen, told the newspaper that the sharp reduction in energy taxes poses a double challenge for petrol station companies. On the one hand, they would try to reduce their stocks by June 1st in order to be able to sell as little highly taxed fuel as possible cheaper from June onwards. On the other hand, it is to be expected that motorists will drive to the petrol pumps en masse from June 1 of all times to fill up empty tanks. “Therefore, temporary bottlenecks at the stations cannot be completely ruled out,” said Küchen.