Infrastructure Tax Act

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Basic data
Title: Law on the collection of a time-based infrastructure charge for the use of federal highways
Short title: Infrastructure Tax Act
Abbreviation: InfrAG
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter: Road traffic law
References : 9290-18; 9230-1, 202-5, 9231-1
Issued on: June 8, 2015 (BGBl I 2015 p. 904)
Entry into force on: June 12, 2015
Last change by: Art. 145 G of November 20, 2019
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1626, 1712 )
Effective date of the
last change:
November 26, 2019
(Art. 155 G of November 20, 2019)
GESTA : B030
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Infrastructure Tax Act ( InfrAG ) was intended to form the administrative basis for a user fee for trunk roads in the Federal Republic of Germany planned by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. The owners or drivers of passenger cars would have been liable for the tax within the meaning of the InfrAG . Colloquially, the user fee was therefore also called the car toll . However, on June 18, 2019, the European Court of Justice ruled that the car toll resolved here was incompatible with EU law, as it would discriminate against foreign vehicle owners.

Content

According to the official announcement of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, the Infrastructure Tax Act (InfrAG) intended a "system change from tax to user financing" of the federal trunk road network and an "incentive to use low-emission cars". For this purpose, according to InfrAG, a so-called infrastructure charge should be levied for the use of the federal trunk road network.

The owners or drivers of motor vehicles of the EC vehicle classes M1 and M1G, colloquially cars including off-road vehicles and mobile homes , would have been liable for the tax within the meaning of the InfrAG . According to InfrAG, the infrastructure charge would have to be paid by purchasing an "electronic vignette" before using the road network, whereby the scope and type of the infrastructure charge and the method of collection should depend on the national territory in which the vehicle is registered:

  1. Approval in the Federal Republic of Germany:
    • the tax should be levied both for the use of motorways and for the use of federal highways
    • the fee should be linked to the registration of the vehicle, the owner of the vehicle would have been the debtor of the infrastructure fee
    • the fee should be levied annually at a flat rate - regardless of whether and how long it is used, and regardless of the distance traveled
  2. Approval outside the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany:
    • the tax should only be levied for the use of motorways
    • the tax should be paid from the day the border is crossed, whereby the following three vignettes would have been available depending on the period of use: ten-day vignette, two-month vignette and annual vignette.
    • the fee should be levied - roughly staggered - depending on the actual period of use, but regardless of the distance traveled

Assessment of the fee

The amount of the required fee was determined in accordance with the appendix to §8 InfrAG. This was done in the case of passenger cars after

  • Cubic capacity (graduation per 100 cm 3 or part thereof)
  • Type of engine (either external ignition, mostly gasoline engine , or compression ignition, mostly diesel engine )
  • Emission class (either Euro 3 and below, or Euro 4 & 5, or Euro 6)
  • only in the case of vehicles registered outside the Federal Republic of Germany: according to the period of use

or in the case of mobile homes after

  • permissible total weight (graduation per 200 kg or part thereof)
  • only in the case of vehicles registered outside the Federal Republic of Germany: according to the period of use

At the same time as the infrastructure charge is levied , the vehicle tax should be reduced to such an extent that the total amount of the officially set charges for vehicles registered in Germany does not initially increase. The respective amounts were calculated according to the following table (last change: June 2017).

Annual contribution to infrastructure fee (in brackets: tax reduction for vehicles registered in Germany)
Vehicle type Euro 3 and below Euro 4 and 5 Euro 6 every started ...
Car (Otto) € 6.50 (- € 6.50) € 2.00 (- € 2.00) € 1.80 (- € 2.32) 100 cm³ displacement
Car (diesel) € 9.50 (- € 9.50) € 5.00 (- € 5.00) € 4.80 (- € 5.32) 100 cm³ displacement
Camper € 16.00 200 kg permissible total weight

According to the appendix to §8 InfrAG, a cap on the fee of currently EUR 130 per year was planned.

Exceptions

In accordance with §2 InfrAG, vehicles that

  • are not subject to authorization or are tax-exempt
  • are in the service of the police, customs or military institutions
  • are in the service of public corporations (e.g. for road construction or street cleaning)
  • are in the service of rescue workers or non-profit organizations
  • are mainly used in regular services
  • be used in the diplomatic or consular service
  • be used for business trips by foreign authorities
  • are approved for severely disabled people

Likewise, according to Section 2 (1) Number 10, there would have been no obligation to pay electric cars , while hybrid electric vehicles would not have been excluded.

analysis

Affected vehicle categories

According to §2 Paragraph (1) InfrAG, a tax is levied on vehicles of the EC vehicle classes M1 and M1G, colloquially passenger cars including off-road vehicles and mobile homes. On the other hand, no levy is levied on heavier vehicles of classes M2 and M3 (colloquially omnibuses ) and classes N1 and N2 up to 7.5 t (vehicles for transporting loads including small vans ); the truck toll is only charged from a permissible total weight of 7.5 t. A Mercedes Sprinter (class N1, curb weight approx. 2100 kg) remains duty-free, while z. B. the much lighter VW Golf (class M1, empty weight approx. 1200 kg) is charged with the fee. As a result, the InfrAG disadvantages light passenger cars compared to the heavier vehicles mentioned, although the latter cause far greater damage to the road infrastructure (in the example, the sprinter uses the road infrastructure about ten times more than the Gulf in accordance with the fourth power law ).

Position of domestic vehicle owners

For vehicles that are registered in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, a flat fee is levied in accordance with InfrAG, the amount of which, similar to the vehicle tax, is based solely on the vehicle's technical characteristics. At the same time, the motor vehicle tax will be reduced by the amount of the infrastructure tax levied in accordance with the Second Act to Amend the Motor Vehicle Tax Act . Even if part of the cumulative tax is no longer called “vehicle tax” but “infrastructure tax”, nothing will change for owners of vehicles registered in Germany after the InfrAG comes into effect. Because the amount of the fee does not differ from the amount of the previous vehicle tax, the officially advertised incentive to “use vehicles with the lowest possible emissions” is no higher than it was previously with the vehicle tax. Because the levy, like the motor vehicle tax, does not take into account the actual use of the road infrastructure, the officially advertised system change “from tax to user financing” is also not recognizable.

Position of foreign drivers

According to InfrAG, foreign drivers are obliged to pay the toll for the use of the trunk road network when they enter the country, while the total amount of the taxes remains unchanged for domestic vehicle owners due to the reduced vehicle tax. Various bodies question whether the resulting unequal treatment of domestic vehicle owners and foreign vehicle drivers is compatible with European law and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. Accordingly, the European Court of Justice ruled on June 18, 2019 that the car toll decided by the Federal Government is incompatible with EU law in accordance with the InfrAG.

Dependence on driving performance

For domestic vehicle owners, according to InfrAG, a fee is levied in the form of a flat rate, which is independent of the actual mileage and is therefore also independent of the pollutant and CO 2 emissions actually caused by the vehicle , and also independent of whether the trunk road network is used is used at all. Foreign vehicle drivers, on the other hand, can choose roughly according to the actual period of use. However, there is no incentive to reduce mileage and thereby pollutant emissions and the stress on the road infrastructure.

Reactions from neighboring countries

In response to the Ministry of Transport's plans to introduce an InfrAG infrastructure charge for the use of the trunk road network, Denmark has already considered introducing a charge for the use of the road network as well. If the previously toll-free neighboring states introduce taxes based on the German model, the InfrAG would, contrary to official statements, have a not inconsiderable indirect influence on travel costs in Europe.

Alternatives

As a justification for the InfrAG, the federal government's draft law names the necessary investments in the maintenance and expansion of traffic routes, in which owners of vehicles not registered in Germany should also be involved. In order to achieve this goal, there are “no alternatives” to the vignette system implemented in InfrAG, according to the draftsman. In fact, however, the EU Commission is in favor of road user charges based on the number of kilometers driven; Vignette systems are to be converted to route-based systems by 2026 at the latest. As a further alternative for a system change to usage-dependent financing, u. a. Proposed from the ranks of ADAC and FDP to increase the energy tax on petrol and diesel by a few cents without bureaucracy and to relieve domestic vehicle owners accordingly through a reduced vehicle tax (the tax revenue per cent increase in energy tax is between 400 and 600 million euros, depending on the estimate. Euros per year).

costs

According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, taxpayers have already paid 53.6 million euros for preparing the planned infrastructure charge since 2014. It has not yet been clarified whether and to what extent claims for damages will be due to the intended operators Kapsch and CTS Eventim, with whom the Federal Ministry has already concluded contracts without waiting for the judgment of the European Court of Justice. Currently (as of July 2019) claims of an additional 300 million euros up to over half a billion euros are under discussion.

Chronology of the way to the law

Most of the neighboring states of the Federal Republic of Germany that can be reached directly or by ferry currently do not levy any car tolls on trunk roads (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain), or only indicate certain sections of the route as subject to toll (France, Poland, Norway). Only in three direct neighboring states (Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic) is there a general toll requirement for cars. The Free State of Bavaria is the only German federal state that borders precisely on these three neighboring states. In Bavaria, therefore, political majorities were suspected early on in favor of introducing a car toll in Germany. In 2013, the Christian Social Union (CSU), which was taking part in Bavaria, officially declared the introduction of a car toll as its goal:

  • July 19, 2013 The CSU includes the demand for a “car toll for travelers from abroad” in its election program “Der Bayernplan”
  • August 11, 2013 Horst Seehofer (CSU) insists on the inclusion of a “car toll for foreign drivers” in a coalition agreement
  • September 15, 2013 The CSU wins back its absolute majority in the state elections with 47.7% (+4.3%) in the Free State of Bavaria
  • September 22nd, 2013 CDU / CSU together win 41.5% of the votes (+7.7%) in the federal elections, making them the strongest parliamentary group. Transport Minister Ramsauer (CSU) feels a “huge tailwind” for asserting the CSU's positions the coalition negotiations
  • September 29, 2013 Horst Seehofer confirms his opinion that a "majority of Germans [are] in favor of the toll for foreigners"
  • November 27, 2013 The CSU pushed through, against the concerns of the coalition partners, that a "[...] car toll [for] owners of cars not registered in Germany [...]" will be included in the coalition agreement
  • December 17, 2013 Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) is appointed Minister of Transport of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • July 7, 2014 Alexander Dobrindt presents an initial vignette concept for the car toll, which he has now renamed “Infrastructure Fee”
  • October 30, 2014 Alexander Dobrindt presents an amended bill that now treats domestic and foreign drivers differently
  • March 27, 2015 The Bundestag approves the bill for the "introduction of an infrastructure charge" against opposition from the coalition
  • June 8, 2015 Federal President Joachim Gauck signs the draft law to introduce an infrastructure charge, the law comes into force four days later
  • June 18, 2015 The EU Commission initiates infringement proceedings for discrimination against foreign vehicle drivers
  • September 29, 2016 The EU Commission takes Germany to the Court of Justice of the European Union over the toll plans
  • December 1, 2016 The EU Commission puts the infringement proceedings after the price reduction for short-term vignettes and the change from three to five vehicle categories on hold
  • March 24, 2017 The Bundestag approves the amended draft of an "Infrastructure Tax Act" against the opposition and the concerns of the SPD
  • March 24, 2017 Several federal states apply for corrections to be made via the mediation committee due to expected losses in retail and catering
  • March 31, 2017 After Horst Seehofer threatens to block cooperation in the coalition, the federal states give up their resistance to the draft law
  • May 17, 2017 The EU Commission closes its proceedings against Germany for the introduction of the car toll
  • May 18, 2017 Change to the annex to Article 1 regarding the graduation of vignette prices
  • October 12, 2017 Austria files a lawsuit against Germany with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for discrimination on the basis of nationality (file number C-591/17)
  • December 13, 2017 The Netherlands joins Austria's lawsuit
  • 12/2019 Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) concludes contracts with the operating companies intended for operation, although the judgment of the ECJ is still pending
  • February 6, 2019 The Advocate General before the Court of Justice of the European Union considers the coupling of the infrastructure charge to a corresponding tax relief to be permissible and recommends that Austria's action be dismissed
  • June 18, 2019 According to the judgment of the European Court of Justice, the infrastructure charge according to InfrAG in connection with the reduced vehicle tax constitutes indirect discrimination on the basis of nationality and is incompatible with European law
  • June 18, 2019 Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer initiates the termination of the contracts with the operating companies at the end of September 2019

Individual evidence

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  2. Federal Law Gazette 2015 Part I No. 22, issued in Bonn on June 11, 2015. (PDF) In: bgbl.de. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
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  65. ^ Lawsuit - Republic of Austria / Federal Republic of Germany. In: eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved March 10, 2019 .
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