Budget deficit - Traffic light wants to raise ticket tax for passenger flights
The coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP wants to raise the ticket tax on passenger flights due to the budget crisis. The air traffic tax will be adjusted, the federal government spokesperson announced on Tuesday with a view to the agreement on the 2024 federal budget.
This means that the possible introduction of a national kerosene tax is off the table. Kerosene used in commercial aviation is exempt from energy tax. A paper from the Ministry of Economic Affairs had stated: "Among other things, we will tax kerosene in national air traffic in the future."
Ticket tax to be adjusted annually
The Federal Association of the German Air Transport Industry had sharply criticized the possible introduction of a national kerosene tax. The state location costs in Germany are already the highest in Europe. A national tax on kerosene within Germany would make feeder traffic to German hubs more expensive and thus shift traffic to other European and international countries.
As the spokesperson for the German government has now announced, the air traffic tax will be adjusted annually to generate additional revenue in the amount of the privileged energy tax on kerosene in domestic air traffic. "This would lead to additional revenue of up to 580 million euros per year from 2024."
Federal government must plug billion-euro holes
The ticket tax introduced in 2011 by the then black-yellow government to balance the budget has so far generated revenue of around one billion euros a year. The airlines have to pay the surcharges, which are staggered according to route.
Last Wednesday, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) reached an agreement on how to plug billions of euros of gaps in the federal budget for 2024 and in the climate and transformation fund following a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court.
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The decision to increase the ticket tax on passenger flights is a response to the budget deficit by the coalition of SPD, Greens, and FDP. This adjustment to the air traffic tax is expected to generate additional revenue of up to 580 million euros per year from 2024. The Federal Government's announcement has caused controversy in the Federal Association of the German Air Transport Industry, as they believe a national kerosene tax could make feeder traffic to German hubs more expensive.
Source: www.stern.de
