Traffic light partially withdraws plans for agricultural cuts
In order to close the budget gap for 2024, the traffic light government decides in December to reduce subsidies and tax breaks in agriculture. Following protests, the federal government now backtracks and partially abandons the plans.
The traffic light coalition is partially abandoning its plans to cut subsidies for farmers. The federal government has announced that there will be no abolition of the motor vehicle tax exemption for agriculture. The abolition of tax concessions for agricultural diesel will not be implemented in one step, according to the statement.
With reference to the motor vehicle tax exemption, the reason given is that the step is being taken "in order to avoid the sometimes considerable bureaucratic burden for the companies concerned". As a first step, the government wants to reduce the relief rate for agricultural diesel by 40 percent this year. This is to be followed by a further 30 percent reduction in 2025 and 2026. The subsidy is then to be abolished completely from 2026.
The government is also taking a little more time for the planned transfer of the plastic levy to the EU to industry. This is to be implemented on January 1, 2025, according to government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit. The federal government currently pays the plastic levy for companies. The reason for the later implementation of the savings plan is as follows: "This is necessary in order to gain more time to develop an efficient solution with as little bureaucracy as possible."
The adjusted plans were "counter-financed by the definition of a broader use of the revenue from the offshore wind tender in 2023 in the Wind-on-Sea Act, including for the general federal budget (780 million euros), by an additional savings contribution of 100 million euros from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and by leeway resulting from updated economic and budgetary data in the federal budget". The government puts the gap to be closed at 2.5 billion euros.
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The traffic light coalition is revising its plans to reduce subsidies in agriculture due to public pressure. The government is now only implementing partial agricultural cuts, retaining some subsidies to avoid excessive bureaucracy for farmers.
Source: www.ntv.de
