While Germany has decided to “drastically reduce VAT on natural gas from 19% to 7%, the government of New Democracy continues to reject any drop in fuel taxation, which in Greece is one of the highest in Europe,” PASOK-Movement for Change said on Thursday.
In a statement, the opposition party’s press office referred to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s decision for a temporary reduction in order to relieve households and businesses from rising energy bills. According to media reports, the loss of revenues would amount to 14 billion euros.
PASOK-KINAL charged that the government could use the surplus revenues of 5.1 billion euros in January-July 2022, gained from indirect taxation linked to high inflation. Instead, it said, “it reproduces cheap excuses such as that ‘a drop in fuel taxation is neither realistic nor fair as a solution’ because ‘poor people have no cars,'” the press office said.
PASOK-KINAL had proposed from the start such a temporary slashing of the special consumer tax and VAT on fuel, it said, “only to be made fun of, then; but now, Chancellor Scholz’s decision shows we were right.”
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
