The one about the Iran war significantly increased gasoline prices have triggered a rush to comparatively cheaper gas stations in the Polish border region. On the Brandenburg border Poland Customs are therefore increasingly checking so-called tank tourists. Customs spokeswoman Lisa Pörschmann told the newspaper that there have been spot checks at border crossings nationwide for several days Märkischen Allgemeine Zeitung.
As a result, the controls are aimed at drivers who Buy cheaper fuel in neighboring countries and come back to Germany without declaring it through customs. The focus of control is the border crossings to Poland and the Czech Republic in Brandenburg, Saxony and Bavaria.
There are no longer any customs borders for fuel within the European Union. However, anyone who imports more than 20 additional liters into Germany must pay mineral oil tax. Anyone who fills up in Poland, for example, can bring the contents of the full vehicle tank and a canister with a maximum of 20 liters of the same fuel to Germany tax-free. However, anything beyond that is subject to tax.
Filling up with your neighbors is much cheaper
Although fuel prices had also recently risen in Poland, the price per liter was still 30 to 60 cents lower than in Germany, among other things because of different tax rates.
Because of the price difference for fuel, there are sometimes long queues at Polish gas stations, said the head of regional policy at the East Brandenburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK), Robert Radzimanowski. “This makes the earnings situation even worse for the German gas stations in the border area,” said Radzimanowski.
Woidke criticizes “rip-offs” at gas stations
Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) also criticized the significant price increase at gas stations as a “rip-off” and called on the federal government to intervene.
“No one understands why prices in Germany for the same fuel are 60 cents higher than in Poland. And that even though both countries are neighboring EU states,” Woidke told the dpa news agency. The The federal government must finally take action and remedy this “unsustainable grievance”. “The price gouging at gas stations is a pure rip-off,” Woidke continued.
The Federal Cartel Office recently stated that it was examining the current price development. “If there are indications of antitrust behavior by the oil companies, we would take consistent action,” said Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt.