The increase of 5.99 cents per liter in a tax on non-road diesel (GNR) planned for this year for the construction sector will be compensated by the State for companies with a maximum of fifteen employees, the ministry announced on Tuesday February 13 economy.
Bercy has published a list of measures favorable to construction, announced by the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, “in a context of decline in activity in the sector”, notes the ministry. This reimbursement, described as “support”, is the flagship measure. It will be paid at the beginning of 2025 for the year 2024, up to a limit of 20,000 euros per company, the press release specifies.
The construction and agricultural sector benefit from a reduced excise rate on RNG, an advantage that the government had planned to gradually eliminate between 2024 and 2030, arguing that supporting tax advantages for fossil fuels was contrary to its environmental objectives. Thus, the planned increase was 5.99 cents per liter per year in the construction sector and 2.85 cents in the agricultural sector. At the end of January, the government renounced this increase in the agricultural sector, following the angry movement of farmers.
The building and public works sector, which is currently going through a bad patch, has asked to benefit from equivalent measures. Last week, construction workers repeatedly blocked oil depots in Brittany.
In its press release, Bercy estimates that the measure announced on Tuesday, which should cost the State around 20 million euros, “will make it possible to financially support small businesses in the sector”.
“A broad consultation with representatives of the sector” planned
The ministry adds that the year 2024 will be “used to organize a broad consultation with representatives of the sector” on the measures which will accompany “the trajectory of gradual extinction” of the tax advantage on RNG.
The press release cites among these measures “financial support for the sector, the promotion and valorization of biofuels, aid measures for equipment with electrical or fuel-efficient equipment, strengthening of controls on the proper use of reduced rates applicable”.
As soon as the finance bill for 2024 was published in September, Bruno Le Maire announced that the State “would not put a euro in its pocket” with the increase in the GNR, in particular by helping the two sectors concerned to pass to other energy modes.
Bercy finally indicates that the simplification bill for businesses, currently being developed, would provide for a reduction in payment deadlines for public administrations, “which will help improve the cash flow of companies in the sector”.
The ministry will consider in particular the possibility of “standardizing and strengthening the level of default interest rates applied to public defaulters”, as well as an automatic application of these default interests, “rather than at the request of the company”. Finally, the government is announcing the holding in the coming weeks of a National Construction and Renovation Council which will address all of these subjects.