Heavy Vehicle Tax: LKW-Maut - Brief Summary (Germany)

Heavy Vehicle Tax (LKW-Maut), Germany

Background
The German scheme is based on the Act on the Collection of Distance-Based Charges for the Use of Federal Motorways by Heavy Goods Vehicles of 5 April 2002.This charge will replace its former Eurovignette charge.

Introduced
Due in 2005. The charge was to be introduced at the beginning of 2004 but was delayed due to persistent technical problems

Aims
The charge is claculated according to the estimated maintenance, upgrading and renewal costs for the motorway system attributable to trucks. The charge is designed to raise revenues to relieve public budgets of this expenditure and charge all users, including foreign trucks, equally.
The charge is also explicitly intended to provide an appropriate financial environment for inter-modal competition for freight between road and rail (Perkins, 2004).

Design
Rate
The intial rate is 1.5 times the previous Eurovignette charge per km and will increase the taxes of motorway driving by 70%. The toll is differentiated according to the emission level of the vehicle an dnumber of axles. The toll is as follows:

Up to 3 axles 4 and more axles
EURO 0-1 0.13 Euro 0.14 Euro
EURO 2-3 0.11 Euro 0.12 Euro
EURO 4-5* 0.09 Euro 0.10 Euro
*EURO 4 and 5 are expected to be introduced in 2005 and 2008 respectively.
Scope
It will apply to motorway driving only. All vehicles with a maximum permissable gross laden weight of 12 tonnes or more used exclusively for the carriage of goods are obliged to pay the toll.
Administraton
The scheme is administered and monitored by the Federal Office for Good Transport (Bundesamt fur Guterverkehr). The bid to establish an electronic toll system went to Toll Collect Ltd, which proved controversial in terms of competition law, thus the hold-up with implementation.
The German system relies on satellite and mobile phone technologies to communicate with on-board units without the need for roadsie transponders. The main advantage of satellite systems is that they can be applied to the entire road system and differentiated b road type - thus roads with higher environmental or infrastructure costs could be charged at higher rates (Perkins, 2004). Revenue
The revenue from toll collection is used to cover operation and monitoring costs, with remaining funds accruing to the traffic budget and earmarked for improving traffic infrastructure, particularly long distance roads.

Expectations (Ex ante Analysis)
It is expected to raise 3.4 billion euro in 2005 when levied at the full average rate of 15 eurocents per km (though it will be introduced at a discounted average rate of 12 eurocents)(Perkins, 2004).

References
Perkins, 2004. Charging for the Use of Roads: Policies and Recent Initiatives. Paper presented at the Fifth Annual Global Conferenc on Environmental Taxation Issues, Experience and Potential. Pavia, Italy, September 2004.

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Heavy Vehicle Tax (LKW-Maut), Germany

Background

The German scheme is based on the Act on the Collection of Distance-Based Charges for the Use of Federal Motorways by Heavy Goods Vehicles of 5 April 2002.This charge will replace its former Eurovignette charge.

Introduced

Due in 2005. The charge was to be introduced at the beginning of 2004 but was delayed due to persistent technical problems

Aims

The charge is claculated according to the estimated maintenance, upgrading and renewal costs for the motorway system attributable to trucks. The charge is designed to raise revenues to relieve public budgets of this expenditure and charge all users, including foreign trucks, equally.

The charge is also explicitly intended to provide an appropriate financial environment for inter-modal competition for freight between road and rail (Perkins, 2004).

Design

Rate

The intial rate is 1.5 times the previous Eurovignette charge per km and will increase the taxes of motorway driving by 70%. The toll is differentiated according to the emission level of the vehicle an dnumber of axles. The toll is as follows:

	Up to 3 axles	4 and more axles
EURO 0-1	0.13 Euro	0.14 Euro
EURO 2-3	0.11 Euro	0.12 Euro
EURO 4-5*	0.09 Euro	0.10 Euro

*EURO 4 and 5 are expected to be introduced in 2005 and 2008 respectively.

Scope

It will apply to motorway driving only. All vehicles with a maximum permissable gross laden weight of 12 tonnes or more used exclusively for the carriage of goods are obliged to pay the toll.

Administraton

The scheme is administered and monitored by the Federal Office for Good Transport (Bundesamt fur Guterverkehr). The bid to establish an electronic toll system went to Toll Collect Ltd, which proved controversial in terms of competition law, thus the hold-up with implementation.

The German system relies on satellite and mobile phone technologies to communicate with on-board units without the need for roadsie transponders. The main advantage of satellite systems is that they can be applied to the entire road system and differentiated b road type - thus roads with higher environmental or infrastructure costs could be charged at higher rates (Perkins, 2004). Revenue

The revenue from toll collection is used to cover operation and monitoring costs, with remaining funds accruing to the traffic budget and earmarked for improving traffic infrastructure, particularly long distance roads.

Expectations (Ex ante Analysis)

It is expected to raise 3.4 billion euro in 2005 when levied at the full average rate of 15 eurocents per km (though it will be introduced at a discounted average rate of 12 eurocents)(Perkins, 2004).

References

Perkins, 2004. Charging for the Use of Roads: Policies and Recent Initiatives. Paper presented at the Fifth Annual Global Conferenc on Environmental Taxation Issues, Experience and Potential. Pavia, Italy, September 2004.