Background information

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 .

Content of measure

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.

Use of measure

The measures are directly translated into tax benefits for citizens. No further usage data available.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

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
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No involvement.

Views and reactions

No involvement.

Sources

• 21 March 2022: Package of measures to cushion the impact of rising energy prices and inflation (www.government.nl)