uheavier burdens on companies, more relief for citizens: both in politics and in associations, calls for further measures are becoming louder in view of the high energy prices. During Pentecost, the focus was primarily on the profits of the mineral oil industry. Several politicians from the SPD and the Greens called for higher taxation of companies’ “excess profits”. It cannot be that the mineral oil companies “fill their pockets even more in the crisis,” said SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil of the Funke media group. The social association VdK meanwhile announced that it intends to take legal action against the energy price flat rate of 300 euros that has already been decided. The fact that pensioners should not get this violates the principle of equality, said VdK chairwoman Verena Bentele of the newspaper “Bild am Sonntag”: “That’s why we plan to sue against this injustice.”
The tank discount has been in effect in Germany since last Wednesday. The federal government had lowered energy taxes for petrol and diesel to the European minimum level, which should lower prices by up to 35 cents per liter. Initially, the prices at the petrol stations actually fell, but in the past few days the automobile club ADAC has observed an increase again. “There is clearly not enough for the consumer,” said a spokesman.
At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Greens in particular toyed with the idea of an excess profit tax. Now the idea is also finding increasing support among social democrats. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) advised the federal government on Sunday to urgently examine an excess profit tax. Bremen’s Prime Minister Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) had previously asked the Bundesrat to deal with the issue at its meeting next Friday.
According to the motion for a resolution, the profit increases are not the result of economic activity, “but result solely from the market turmoil as a result of the crises”. Greens leader Omid Nouripour said an extra tax is a fair way to raise more money and keep prices down. Even CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn was open to such an instrument. Unjustified extra profits would have to be skimmed off with a tax, he told the “Bild am Sonntag”.
Economists criticize the demands
Economists aren’t nearly as enthusiastic about an excess profits tax. Ifo boss Clemens Fuest pointed out that profits would be taxed anyway. “Introducing special taxes for individual sectors depending on the economic situation opens the floodgates to arbitrariness and populism,” he told the “Rheinische Post”. Dominika Langenmayr, who researches tax issues at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, also advised against it: “Once you start introducing new taxes on successful market participants in special situations, you destroy trust in the tax system,” she wrote on the short message service Twitter.
Other European countries are cited as role models in the political debate. In Greece, the government has gone furthest so far: There, 90 percent of the excess profits of the energy companies are to be skimmed off. The decisive factor should be the additional profit compared to the previous year. The state energy regulatory authority was commissioned with the implementation. Apparently this turns out to be difficult.
Italy passed a 25 percent excess profits tax. The basis there are sales based on VAT revenue. Since sales can increase not only through higher prices, but also through a growing market share, private companies are examining lawsuits. Great Britain, on the other hand, has decided to increase the profit tax for companies in the gas and oil sector from 40 to 65 percent. This is expected to generate £5 billion in additional revenue within 12 months. However, when companies invest, most of the tax is waived.
SPD calls for further relief
In Germany, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil also justified his sympathies for an excess profit tax with the relief packages worth billions. “Crisis and war winners” should be used more to finance the common good, he said. For SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich it is clear that further relief is necessary for the middle of society. When asked whether he was in favor of paying the EUR 300 energy flat rate to pensioners as well, he told the Internet portal T-Online: “I can imagine that. But we will discuss and decide together.”
A tweet by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) indicates that these talks will not be so easy. The Bundestag has only just decided on the budget for 2022, and now new taxes and new spending on credit are being discussed again. “Some have a mysterious relationship with parliament, state finances and taxpayers’ money,” wrote Lindner on the short message service. Elsewhere he campaigned for relief for the middle class in the coming year as part of an income tax reform. However, it is questionable whether his coalition partners want to wait until then.