France: State seeks end to ecotax fiasco
05.12.2017 France: State seeks end to ecotax fiascoLe Figaro, 05 Dec 2017, online:-
The French National Assembly has adopted an alteration to the amended budget bill in order to free up EUR 339mn (USD 405.05mn) so that the government can finally settle the debt it owes to Franco-Italian consortium Ecomouv, the company that was supposed to collect the ecotax on heavy goods vehicles before the measure was abandoned in 2014. The tax was expected to generate more than EUR 1bn in revenue. The adopted amendment provides for a EUR 339mn readjustment to the amount of domestic consumption tax on energy products (TICPE) allocated to transport infrastructure financing agency AFITF in 2017 to ensure the repayment of the debt in one go. The State must repay nearly EUR 1bn to Ecomouv and its partners, although it has already made some repayments, including the EUR 403mn handed over in March 2015. The rest of the repayments were to be staggered up until 2024, a decision that would have increased the debt by another EUR 35mn according to a recent report from the Court of Auditors. Another amendment to the budget bill for 2018 will be tabled simultaneously in order to lower the ceiling of the TICPE assigned to AFITF by EUR 48mn, corresponding to the 2018 payment that was initially budgeted.
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