In view of skyrocketing energy prices, the government has now announced a major energy summit in the Federal Chancellery for Sunday. There, the top government wants to discuss countermeasures with representatives of the energy industry.
The opposition and social partners are now bombarding the government with proposals. The Styrian Chamber of Commerce and the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor demanded temporary tax relief for fuel. The mineral oil tax (MÖSt) should be temporarily suspended, says WK-Styria President Josef Herk. This alone would reduce the price per liter by 40 cents (diesel) or 50 cents (petrol). He also advocated a temporary halving of VAT on fuel.
It is similar: Upper Austria’s AK President Andreas Stangl. He calls on the government to take “quick political action to prevent prices from going through the roof” – preferably a temporary reduction in taxes and duties on energy and fuel, such as a halving of VAT.
The liberal economy wants a full deductibility of the mineral oil tax for taxis. This is underlined by the taxi spokesman and Vice President of the Free Economy Vienna, Thomas Kreutzinger. Such a deductibility is also possible for aviation and shipping as well as for farmers. This is necessary in order to maintain the taxi trade as a means of transport.
Meanwhile, the SPÖ is demanding energy efficiency measures and the expansion of renewables, and the biogas industry is demanding a suitable legal framework for expanding domestic green gas production.
