The tax rebate for train tickets decided in the climate package is not well received by travel providers off the rail. In particular, long-distance bus companies are dissatisfied with the fact that they do not benefit in a comparable way. The planned lower VAT for train tickets could shrink the long-distance bus service, warns, for example, remote bus provider Flixbus. The policy has enabled long-distance buses. "To row back after only a few years and massively restrict this development in the area, would be difficult to understand and would go against a sustainable mobility turnaround," said a spokesman on request.
The recently passed climate package of the Federal Government stipulates that the value added tax in long-distance transport of Deutsche Bahn should be reduced from 19 to 7 percent from the New Year. In local transport, VAT is already 7 percent. The railway has announced that this advantage will be passed on to customers in full. For long-distance buses, the law provides no tax benefits.
Bus with climate advantages
The tax rebate for train tickets is likely from the point of view of the FDP member of parliament Bernd Reuther soon become a case for the courts. "With such an activism, complaints from other carriers are already programmed," said Reuther. "The federal government bends the VAT cut on the railway as it needs it."
The automobile association ADAC also demands a lower VAT for long-distance bus traffic. According to the Federal Environment Agency, the long-distance bus cuts greenhouse gas emissions just as cheaply per passenger as long-distance rail passenger transport, the association said. The railway is better with renewable electricity, but the climate advantages over the car are more decisive. "The ADAC also points out that in many regions the long-distance bus significantly improves the mobility offer", it was said - especially in middle-class cities without long-distance train connections. In this respect, they made a valuable contribution to rural mobility.
The government defended its action: "Isolated favoring" of long-distance rail transport is not a violation of the principle of neutrality of VAT, because they are "not similar" from the consumers' point of view, said the Ministry of Finance. The railways' long-distance transport ensures "the mobility and flexibility of the citizens", thanks to the route network and the speed of the connections between the cities like no other mode of transport.
