Germany: Car Toll Inevitable, Expert Reveals

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

29 January 2010

President of the German Transport Judiciary, Kay Nehm, has called for the introduction of a toll charge in Germany in return for the use of the country’s roads.

Defending his proposal, former Attorney General Nehm emphasized the fact that other transit countries, such as Austria and France, have imposed a fee for the use of their roads for a long time now. Indeed, according to Nehm, the introduction of a toll charge for cars and vans is simply inevitable, in the interest of equality.

Despite repeated assurances from the Federal Transport Minister, Peter Ramsauer, that a toll charge will not be introduced, Rainer Hillgärtner, a spokesman for the German car club ACE, remains convinced that the government will continue to debate the controversial issue following the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, highlighting the fact that a toll charge could generate as much as EUR10bn a year for the government.

German car clubs have fiercely criticized the proposal, stating that imposing an additional burden on drivers would be “totally unacceptable,” particularly given the fact that the government receives over EUR50bn a year in motor vehicle and fuel tax, and in truck tolls.

According to a study conducted by car club ADAC, drivers in Germany pay more than four times as much in taxes and contributions as the state pays in the construction and maintenance of the country’s motorways.

Acknowledging the fact that the tax burden on the individual car driver must not increase as a result of the charge, Nehm has suggested that owners would purchase a vignette, costing between EUR30 and EUR40 per year, and that, in return, the price of car tax would be lowered by a corresponding amount.

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