Tank discount: when does it come, what does it bring?

Created: 04/29/2022Updated: 04/29/2022 09:58

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

According to the plans of the traffic light coalition, the tank discount for Germans will come during the holiday season.

(Iconic image) © Wolfgang Maria Weber/Imago

According to the traffic light coalition, the tank discount should come in time for the holiday season.

But how the reduction in energy tax will affect fuel prices is controversial.

Berlin – The federal cabinet decided on a billion-euro relief package on Wednesday because of the sharp rise in energy prices.

An important component is the fuel discount for motorists, who have had to shell out significantly more for petrol and diesel in recent months.

Fuel prices climbed to a record high in the course of the Ukraine war in March: According to the Federal Statistical Office, consumers had to pay an average of 41.9 percent more for premium petrol and 62.6 percent more for diesel than a year earlier.

Fuels as a whole rose in price by 47.4 percent.

According to ADAC, Super E10 peaked on March 14 with a nationwide daily average of EUR 2.203.

And at 2.321 euros per liter, diesel was the most expensive on March 10th.

Tank discount: Tax relief for petrol and diesel comes in summer

The tank discount should now ensure that petrol and diesel become cheaper at the pump.

The traffic light coalition achieves this by lowering the energy tax on fuels to the European minimum.

The tax relief for petrol is just under 30 cents per liter and for diesel it is 14 cents per liter.

Specifically, the tank discount should apply for three months in 2022 – namely from June to August.

After that, the energy tax will be raised again to the previous level.

How exactly the reduction in energy tax will affect fuel prices is controversial.

Experts fear that government measures such as the tank discount will curb the competitive pressure on the corporations.

This means that the state aid does not give them any incentive to lower prices for consumers again.

Therefore, it may be that the tax cut only partially arrives.

However, the government has announced that it will keep an eye on this problem.

Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has therefore significantly expanded the powers of the Cartel Office so that it can better monitor the oil companies.

Tank discount and fuel prices: Criticism from the German Environmental Aid

In addition, it is difficult to predict how fuel prices will develop in the summer months.

Gasoline and diesel prices fell again slightly in April.

In view of the schedules, holidaymakers in particular will probably benefit from the tank discount from June.

The traffic light coalition actually wanted to help commuters.

The German Environmental Aid (DUH) criticizes another aspect: With a tank discount, you even heat up fuel consumption and dependence on Russia's oil, criticize the environmentalists.

The measures against the crisis decided in the relief package are “inadequate and sometimes even counterproductive”.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, it has been clear that there is only one thing that can help immediately and effectively to deal with the security and climate crisis at the same time: the immediate saving of oil and gas.

But the federal government did not do that again.

"With the waiver of a speed limit, which saves 3.7 billion liters of petrol and diesel per year, we can only speak of a state-sponsored show lawn against climate protection and for the financing of the Russian government," says DUH Federal Managing Director Jürgen Resch.