ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2022) The Cypriot government is not planning to enforce additional taxes and fees on gas consumers as Germany and other EU countries do, Cypriot Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides said Tuesday.
Petrides said in a statement that his announcement concerns a letter sent by a German minister to European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni, regarding the non-imposition of VAT on additional fees that had been imposed on natural gas for Germans to help energy companies cope with skyrocketing gas prices.
In early August, the German cabinet agreed to impose an additional fee on gas in a range of 1 to 5 euro cents ($0.01-$0.05) per kilowatt-hour and is planning to enforce another levy on energy storage. Media reported that energy companies added new fees to gas prices on Monday.
"Unlike other EU countries, the government is not intending to impose additional fees or taxes on consumers. On the contrary, our policy during this difficult period is aimed at supporting the society, with a priority to help vulnerable fellow citizens, with budgetary costs of over 350 million Euros to date," Petrides said.
The minister added that Cyprus has a very low VAT rate and lower fuel prices compared with Germany and other EU countries, adding that the government had adopted a set of measures to help its citizens.
"Not only has the Cypriot government not imposed additional fees or other levies on consumers, but it has taken a variety of measures to protect households in the face of rising energy prices. First, VAT was reduced from 19% to 9% for all households and from 19% to 5% for vulnerable households. It has been decided to refund VAT from September 1, as well as to gradually cover the latest increase in electricity prices from government funds - up to 30% of the final energy price," Petrides said.
The politician expressed his hopes that opposition politicians would "not be calling on the government to introduce new fees without VAT to support importers of natural gas, which we do not have."
