MADRID, 1 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government has ruled out a reduction in VAT on butane and propane gas cylinders from 21% to 5%, in accordance with the recently approved reduction for gas, and trusts that the ceiling price set in a recent decree law will be sufficient to avoid uncontrolled rises.
In a response registered in Congress and collected by Europa Press, the Executive explains that it is a European directive that provides that Member States may apply a maximum of two reduced rates of not less than 5% and will apply only to deliveries of goods and the provision of expressly related services.
“Among these categories, liquefied petroleum gases are not included among the categories of goods to which a reduced rate of tax can be applied,” argues the Government, indicating that it is for this reason that “a reduction in the rate is not possible VAT on butane and propane gas cylinders”.
However, in its response, the Executive recalls that through the measures deployed to respond to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine, a limitation was established on the maximum sale price, before taxes, of bottled liquefied petroleum gases. Specifically, the maximum price of the 12.5-kilogram butane cylinder was set at 19.55 euros, in application of Royal Decree Law 11/2022.
The plenary session of Congress endorsed last Thursday the decree law approved by the Government to, among other measures, lower until December 31 the VAT applied to the gas bill from 21% to 5%.
The decree was backed by the PSOE, PP, United We Can, Esquerra Republicana, Ciudadanos, the PNV, the PDeCAT, the Canarian Coalition, Más País-Equo, Compromís, Foro Asturias, the PRC and Teruel Exists. Of course, he did not have the support of Vox, EH-Bildu, Junts, the CUP and the BNG, who preferred to abstain.
In addition to the tax reduction, the decree law allows industrial cogeneration plants to take advantage of the compensation provided for combined cycles for the ‘cap on gas’, the recovery of interruptibility and measures to facilitate the generation of renewable energy, by making it more flexible criteria to determine transport capacity and simplify administrative procedures.