Natural gas, liquid gas and biogenic fuels: extension of tax relief until the end of 2021

UREK-N

The Commission adopted a draft amendment to the Mineral Oil Tax, Environmental Protection and CO2 Act as part of parliamentary initiative 17.405 by 22 votes to 2. This concerns the tax relief granted for environmentally friendly fuels since 1 July 2008. The subsidy expires on 30 June 2020, but it is to be continued in a different form; the Federal Council has made a corresponding proposal in its bill on the total revision of the CO2 Act (17.071). The total revision is not expected to enter into force on time. The committee has therefore drafted an amendment to the law that extends the tax relief and the instruments of the current CO2 Act, which are limited until the end of 2020, until the forthcoming total revision comes into force, but no later than 31 December 2021. The bill also eliminates the previous unequal tax treatment of liquefied and gaseous gases. Several strong minorities want to ensure that various measures to reduce CO2 emissions are continued and tightened beyond 2021 (reduction of emissions by 3 per cent annually compared to 1990) if the CO2 Act is not completely revised. A minority requested that the proposal not be adopted.