BERLIN, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Germany's upper parliament, the Bundesrat, approved the reform of the annual tax on motor vehicles with a stronger focus on CO2 emissions, the government announced on Friday.
The vehicle tax for new passenger cars registered from 2021 onwards would include a "climate component" that would grow with the CO2 emissions of the vehicle, the government said.
The annual tax would increase in six stages from the current 2 euros to 4 euros (4.71 U.S. dollars) for every gram of carbon dioxide per kilometer the car emits, according to the government. To date, a uniform tax rate of two euros per gram of CO2 per kilometer applies.
The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) estimates that a car consuming 7.5 liters of petrol would approximately emit 175 grams of CO2 per kilometer. This would result in an additional CO2 tax of up to 350 euros per year.
The existing cubic capacity taxation remained. However, a new tax exemption of 30 euros would apply to low-emission passenger cars up to the threshold value of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the government noted.
The newly reformed motor vehicle tax was intended to "encourage people to choose a climate-friendly model when they buy a car," said the government, which is aiming to reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector by at least 40 to 42 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.
A survey published by the price comparison website Verivox on Thursday found that around 18 percent of car owners in Germany planned to buy an electric or plug-in hybrid car as their next vehicle.
The German government continues to drive forward e-mobility and is aiming for seven to ten million electric vehicles registered in Germany by 2030. To support the transition, new electric cars registered between 2020 and 2025 would be exempted from motor vehicle taxes. (1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollars) Enditem
