Federal Chairman Köbler calls proposals for rebate taxation outrageous and a violation of the principle of equality – “Subjecting a state gas rebate to income tax as a pecuniary advantage would be a system break in tax law”
According to the German Tax Union, the Gas Price Commission’s proposals for price discount taxation violate tax law and the constitutional principle of equality. “The proposals of the commission of experts on the gas price cap are good, but subjecting the pecuniary benefit to income tax is legally wrong on the one hand and completely outrageous on the other,” said Florian Köbler, head of the finance management union, to the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “The Commission’s proposal to only tax a gas rebate for higher income brackets conflicts with the principle of equality and would be unprecedented in tax law,” he stressed.
“Subjecting a state gas rebate to income tax as a pecuniary advantage would be a system breach in tax law,” said Köbler. “A discount through a state gas price cap does not represent a type of income within the meaning of income tax law, because even under other income no such state benefits are understood,” explained the federal chairman of the tax union. Otherwise serious changes in income tax law would be necessary, explained Köbler.
But even in practice, taxation would hardly be feasible, Körber criticized: “How should the advantage granted per consumption point be distributed to the people behind it? According to the size of the children’s room?” The tax law is unsuitable for this. “A more viable option would be to precede a means test in the case of relief, in which the income tax assessment can play a role,” explained the expert.
Commission chairwoman and economist Veronika Grimm had suggested subjecting the pecuniary benefits from gas price brake payments to income tax and limiting them to higher income brackets so that not all consumers would have to submit a tax return because of the gas bonus.
