Fire protection tax
The fire protection tax is a tax levied on insurance premiums for fire insurance in various countries .
Situation in individual countries
Germany
In Germany, the fire protection tax is one of the state taxes and is levied on the basis of the Fire Protection Tax Act (abbreviation: FeuerschStG). The fire protection tax is subject to the acceptance of the insurance premium
- Fire insurance, including fire business interruption insurance ,
- Buildings insurance and household contents insurance , if the insurance fee is partly due to risks that could be the subject of fire insurance.
Tax liability only arises if the insured items are within the scope of the Fire Protection Tax Act when the insurance premium is accepted. The insured items must be in Germany. The insurer is liable for the tax . He has to calculate the fire protection tax himself (tax registration) and pay it to the responsible tax office.
The income from the fire protection tax is distributed to the individual federal states according to a key defined in the Fire Protection Tax Act. They are earmarked and benefit fire protection .
The following tax rates apply since July 1, 2010:
- Fire and FBU insurance: total tax rate 22%
- of which 60% insurance tax = 13.2%
- thereof 40% fire protection tax = 8.8%
- Residential building insurance: total tax rate 19%
- of which 86% insurance tax = 16.34%
- thereof 14% fire protection tax = 2.66%
- Household contents insurance: total tax rate 19%
- of which 85% insurance tax = 16.15%
- of which 15% fire protection tax = 2.85%
Before the amendment to the Fire Protection Tax Act in 2010, the fire protection tax had been 8% of the insurance premium since July 1, 1994. This rate was applied in full for premiums from fire insurance, but only proportionately to 25% and 20% of the premium for building and household contents insurance (fictitious fire rate), which means that the effective tax rate on the total premium is 2% and 1.6%. amounted to.
The insurer carried increases resulting from the change in the determination of the fire protection tax in 2010. Since the fire protection tax is factored into the contribution rates agreed with the customer, the net contribution remained unchanged.
The volume in 2017 was 451 million euros.
The fire protection tax should not be confused with the fire service tax , which was mainly levied in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg as well as in Thuringia and Saxony .
history
In the past, residents of localities had to deal with compulsory financial participation to ensure fire protection in the form of conditions. Orders under Palatine Count Karl IV from 1772 served to prevent a fire and to stockpile and use fire buckets . It was strictly ensured that every landlord always had a tub filled with water ready and a leather fire bucket with a name at hand. Each municipality had to keep a certain number of buckets in stock. No resident was allowed to marry or be accepted as a subject who had not supplied the community buckets with a new one with the year and name.
Austria
In Austria the fire protection tax is an integral part of the premium for fire insurance .
It is earmarked for the fire service. Although it is a federal tax , but to the states passed.
On the one hand, the federal states finance the state facilities such as fire brigade schools and regional associations; on the other hand, a large part is passed on as a subsidy to the local fire brigades in order to meet the minimum equipment regulations. Part of the fire protection tax is also used for the fire prevention offices.
Due to the fierce competition on the insurance market, the premium income and thus the fire protection tax have fallen sharply. This affects the individual fire brigades, where subsidies are reduced and there are longer waiting times before payment.
In addition, operations have shifted significantly away from fire use to technical use due to the increasing volume of traffic. That is why the Federal Fire Brigade Association and the individual regional associations are trying to get part of the vehicle tax, but this has not yet been achieved.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Text of the Fire Protection Tax Act
- ↑ Tax revenue by type of tax in the years 2014 - 2017. (PDF; 81 kb) In: https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de . Federal Ministry of Finance, August 28, 2018, p. 2 , accessed October 8, 2018 .
- ↑ Municipalities / fire department tax. Own Art . In: Der Spiegel . No. 3 , 1970 ( online ). Quote: "Konstanz calculated costs of 18,000 marks to collect 40,000"
- ^ Franz-Josef Sehr : The fire extinguishing system in Obertiefenbach from earlier times . In: Yearbook for the Limburg-Weilburg district 1994 . The district committee of the Limburg-Weilburg district, Limburg-Weilburg 1993, p. 151-153 .
