According to the researchers, the bulk (660 million euros) of the 2.1 billion euros allocated by the government to cut taxes on fuel and energy will go to the richest 20% in the Netherlands.
Middle-income
Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag said the reduction in value-added tax and petroleum fees is mainly aimed at meeting the so-called middle income, but that this group will receive a total of 418 million euros, or one-fifth of the support package. “People with higher incomes are compensated relatively well in this way,” France Rogers says in the report. He is a researcher and director of C.E. Delft Consulting, which examined the account.
Families with the lowest incomes (up to 22,600 euros per year) jointly receive 240 million euros. They benefit less from tax cuts. The poorest, the so-called minimum around the level of social assistance, receive a one-time energy allowance of 800 euros. This does not apply to the other 800,000 families in the lowest income category, whose income ranges between the level of social assistance and an annual salary of €22,600.
“Just not the minimum”
The differences arose because the government’s measure, according to the researchers, is actually a discount on gasoline, diesel, gas and electricity prices. Poor households use less fuel and energy on average than rich households, and therefore experience a relatively lower return from government subsidies.
Rooijers says the “almost minimal” set in particular is sandwiched between two chairs because of the cabinetry’s procedures. They’ll have to deal with big tax increases, but they won’t gain much from these measures.
