Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure NL-2022-14/2235 – Updated – measures in Netherlands
Country | Netherlands , applies nationwide |
Time period | Temporary, 01 April 2022 – 30 June 2023 |
Context | War in Ukraine |
Type | Other initiatives or policies |
Category |
Responses to inflation
– Support for energy bills |
Author | Thomas de Winter (Panteia) and Eurofound |
Measure added | 10 May 2022 (updated 12 March 2023) |
To compensate households and companies for rising energy prices, the government cut the rate of VAT on energy (natural gas, electricity and district heating) from 21% to 9% for nine months from 1 April 2022. The measure is designed in such a way that it benefits all citizens. The lower VAT on energy and lower excise duty on petrol and diesel brings down energy bills and fuel costs.
Other measures which are part of the set of measures to partly compensate for rising energy costs for households include Extra energy allowance for lower incomes , Tax reduction on the energy bill and reduction of tax rate on electricity in 2022 and More money for households to take energy-saving measures .
This measure is intended to bring down energy bills for households with average consumption by around €200 over the period of nine months. The government also reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel by 21%, from 1 April 2022 until the end of the year. This lowered the price of petrol by 17.3 cents per litre and that of diesel by 11.1 cents per litre.
Costs of the total package of temporary measures (of which reduction of VAT on energy and excise duty on petrol and diesel is a part) is estimated to cost a total of €2.8 billion. The government will fund the package in part from extra gas revenue. It will also use remaining funds from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR). A maximum of €364 million in BAR funds is available.
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
02 January 2023 |
From 1 April 2022, the government has reduced the tax on unleaded petrol, diesel and LPG to compensate for the increase in energy prices. The tax cut will be extended by 6 months until 30 June 2023. In the second half of 2023, the rate will slowly go up again. |
The measures are directly translated into tax benefits for citizens. No further usage data available.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Does not apply to workers | Applies to all businesses | Applies to all citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
|
National funds
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | No involvement | No involvement |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
No involvement.
No involvement.
Citation
Eurofound (2022), Reduction in VAT on energy and excise duty on petrol and diesel, measure NL-2022-14/2235 (measures in Netherlands), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/NL-2022-14_2235.html
Share
30 January 2023
Governments across the EU continue to implement policies to support citizens and businesses in the face of rising food and energy prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis and intensified by the war in Ukraine. This article summarises the policy responses as reported in Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch database from January to September 2022.
Article12 September 2022
Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Article12 September 2022
This article summarises the first policy responses that governments across the EU have started to implement to support companies affected by the rising prices, and those with commercial ties to Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.
Article5 July 2022
This article summarises the first policy responses of EU Member States, including those of the social partners and other civil society actors, enabling refugees to exercise their rights under the Temporary Protection Directive.
ArticleDisclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.