German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that he was looking for a quick solution to a legal dispute with the European Commission over a tax on a gas levy that Germany plans to impose in October
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2022) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that he was looking for a quick solution to a legal dispute with the European Commission over a tax on a gas levy that Germany plans to impose in October.
Berlin wants to support gas suppliers by passing additional costs onto consumers. A household of one will pay an extra 121 Euros ($123) a year before the added-value tax of 19%, or 144 euros with the tax, the Welt daily estimated. It reported Tuesday that the European Commission had refused to waive the EU-wide VAT on the gas levy.
"The Commission got back to us and said that this is not the right way forward but it will discuss with us how citizens could get their money back. We will discuss this way with the Commission very quickly so that it can be implemented legally before the charge is imposed," Scholz told reporters in Berlin.
German natural gas hub, Trading Hub Europe, said on Monday that the levy would be set at 2.4 euro cents per kilowatt-hour before the value-added tax. The tax is estimated at 0.46 cents. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck promised a relief package to bail out struggling households.
