Plastic tax: Draft law envisages high costs for the federal government and the economy

The introduction of the plastic tax costs the federal government a lot of money. There are also costs and great effort for the economy - the trade association speaks of a breach of the coalition agreement.

Berlin. Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) is launching the new plastic tax. For the coming year he expects revenue of 805 million euros for the federal government. From 2028, the tax is expected to bring in a good 1.4 billion euros annually. This emerges from the draft law, which is available to the Handelsblatt.

“The tax is intended to generate additional revenue for the federal budget,” the draft says. “The tax can also help reduce the consumption of plastic packaging.”

The tax should be due on packaging, films and composite packaging whose plastic content is more than five percent. The tax is paid by companies. However, it is “designed to ensure that those liable to pay the tax pass on the burden to the end customer,” says the draft law.

However, the new tax causes some effort for both the federal government and the economy. The Ministry of Finance expects expenditure of 284 million euros in the federal budget for the period up to 2029. They arise, among other things, from the Information Technology Center (ITZ) and customs.

And even after the introductory phase, there will still be costs for the collection: from 2029 onwards, an annual expenditure of 104 million euros will be incurred, according to the draft law.

This also estimates the burden on companies. The law would result in one-off “bureaucratic costs” for the economy amounting to around 8.8 million euros. It is said that the expected annual additional expenditure for the economy is around 44.1 million euros. This results “entirely from the increase in bureaucratic costs from information obligations”.

The tax is therefore causing trouble in the economy. The black-red coalition had actually planned to reduce bureaucracy and explicitly abolish documentation and information requirements. New ones are now being introduced with the plastic tax.

The German Trade Association (HDE) therefore complained in a letter to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. In view of the recently announced relief for the economy, tax increases and the introduction of new levies have been publicly ruled out several times, wrote HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth.

“The introduction of a plastic tax would be a clear breach of the coalition agreement.” Genth also points to the costs of bureaucracy. The introduction of the tax is therefore “definitely” rejected.

The Union and the SPD agreed on the plastic tax as part of the budget negotiations. The background was billion-dollar gaps in the budget. In addition to savings, these should also be closed through new taxes. In addition to the introduction of the plastic tax, a sugar tax and an increase in alcohol and tobacco taxes have been agreed.

There has been an EU plastic tax since 2021. Member States must make an annual contribution to the EU budget based on the amount of plastic packaging waste. Until now, this has been financed from the budget in Germany. The aim of the plastic tax is to permanently finance the corresponding amount, according to the draft law.