Germany Announces Proposed Tax Relief, Upper House Approval of Energy Tax Rate Reductions

The German Government April 24 announced proposed tax relief and same date approval by the upper house of parliament (Bundesrat) of energy tax reductions. The announcement includes: 1) the proposed two-month reduction, by 0.1404 euro (US$0.16) per liter from May 1, in energy tax rates for diesel and petrol, to result in gross relief of up to 0.17 euros (US$0.20) per liter together with the VAT component; 2) the same date passage by the lower house of parliament (Bundestag) of a provision to allow employers to pay a tax and duty-free bonus up to 1,000 euros (US$1,172), from the day ...