Public discontent in France has been growing for several months, including discontent among French carriers.
The reason is a series of changes in pension law, cuts in social benefits, and in the case of transportation, no fuel cuts, and worse, an increase in excise taxes.
In early December, French transport association L'OTRE held a strike in a number of French cities, demanding the removal of Article 15 relating to the €0.02/l reduction in the diesel excise discount from the 2020 budget. This change also affects, Polish companies that refuel in France with diesel fuel and are entitled to recover the overpaid excise tax. Where for the second semester of 2019, the rates to be refunded are 177.1€/1000l, respectively.
The federation, chaired by Aline Mesples, intends to stay in line with what it described in late 2014 as a "red line" when the environmental tax was suspended and a 4-cent increase in the diesel excise tax (TICPE) was imposed by the State as "compensation" for the measure.
The government's current desire to reduce the diesel fuel rebate by 2 cents per liter (we write more about the possibility of overpaid excise tax refunds for Polish carriers here) leaves transport carriers concerned. OTRE intends to address this collective concern with the intention of simultaneously sending a message to public authorities that any potential elimination of excise tax deductibility on commercial diesel fuel would be unacceptable. "What is starting to happen is not just a 2-cent diesel rebate, but a process to eliminate commercial diesel in the long term," says Jean-Marc Rivera, OTRE secretary general.
As part of the current situation, we suggest that you consult the current obstacles on your route via the government website on current traffic, accidents, incidents on France's roads: https://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/
For those of you who would like to learn more about how to take advantage of excise tax recovery in France, please contact me at [email protected]
