[ad_1]
With the turn of the year comes the new CO2 tax, as an incentive for more renewable energy. What does this mean for drivers and renters who have to bear higher heating and fuel costs?
By Joscha Bartlitz, hr
It sounds very simple: 25 euros per ton of CO2 generated, that is what companies have to pay from January 1, 2021 if they sell diesel and gasoline, diesel for heating and natural gas. This amount will rise to 55 euros per tonne in 2025. By the end of the year, additional taxes will be applied to all fossil fuels to make them less attractive and encourage the switch to more climate-friendly energy. This change in the Fuel Emissions Trading Law is part of the Federal Government’s 2030 Climate Protection Program and came into effect in November 2020.
Companies pass the costs on to their customers. But what does that mean in concrete terms for consumer wallets? Anyone who is already on the move sustainably, drives an electric car, or has a solar system on their roof, for example, will hardly feel the effects. But everyone else does.
So far the owners have been left out
Specifically, as of January 1, the price of gasoline will increase by 7 cents a liter and diesel by 7.9 cents. That will hurt some drivers. The great controversial issue is another: the new costs of unsustainable heating with diesel and natural gas, and who pays for them. The price of heating oil also increases by 7.9 cents per liter, while natural gas increases by 0.6 cents per kilowatt hour. On average, heating costs are likely to increase by between 25 and 125 euros next year, depending on the size of the apartment and the power source, calculates Gert Reeh of the German Tenants Association.
The problem for tenants: You bear these costs yourself. “From our point of view, this is extremely unfair because tenants are burdened with costs over which they have no control,” says Reeh. Because the owner is the owner of the heating system. “He builds it, buys the raw materials and energy for it and, therefore, he is solely responsible,” says the lawyer. Therefore, the tenants association clearly requires “that the owner be the only one to bear these expenses”.
Landlords are opposed to cost sharing
The consumer advice centers support the call for a legal change in favor of tenants. You are requesting cost sharing. Federal Minister of the Environment Svenja Schulze (SPD) also admitted to the German Press Agency: “Here I see the need to act on rental apartments. After all, it is the owners who decide on a new heating system. That is why they must also bear their share of the CO2 price. “The federal government has not yet reached an agreement.
The owners are already protesting. “Owner participation in the CO2 tax is not a solution,” says Christian Bruch of the Federal Association of Independent Housing and Real Estate Companies. Because this would mean that the landlord “would have less money available to carry out the necessary energy measures,” Bruch said. He asks energy providers to invest instead and bring more sustainable energy to market. However, the savings of 25 to 125 euros a year were not enough for the owners to renovate in a climate-friendly way. As a result, the rent would have to be increased many times over, warns the federal general manager of the real estate association.
“That’s an advanced argument,” responds Gert Reeh of the tenant association in the dispute over the assumption of the newly added heating costs. “The owner receives the rent and can apply for financing.”
Relief for recipients of housing benefits
The fronts are hardened. From now on, the tenant keeps the costs. The legislator wants to alleviate low-income citizens from 2021 by adding an average of 15 euros per month to the housing benefit. But those who do not receive the housing subsidy leave empty-handed. As additional compensation for tenants, the federal government is lowering electricity prices. It uses the revenue from the new CO2 price primarily to reduce the EEG surcharge under the Renewable Energy Sources Act.
However, practice must show whether the lower electricity costs outweigh the new burden of additional heating costs. Here, too, attorney Reeh cautions: “I think the CO2 tax will be higher than the savings from the EEG surcharge. So that’s a drop in the bucket.”
In any case, the new CO2 tax on diesel and natural gas will only be invoiced with the 2021 operating expenses bill. There is still time for then. “And then comes the Big Bang,” Reh fears.
