the government plans announcements on non-road diesel

Gabriel Attal will make proposals on Friday concerning GNR, this fuel that farmers use in particular in their tractors and for which taxes are increasing.

To respond to the anger of farmers, the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, must make announcements on Friday January 25. Some government proposals will concern non-road diesel (NGR). This fuel is a big reason for anger for operators, since last September, the government announced the gradual end of part of the tax loophole on this RNG.

Even if it is three cents more per liter until 2030, even if this increase was negotiated with agricultural unions like the FNSEA and even if the money collected by Bercy must be returned in full to farmers, to help them make the ecological transition, this increase worries them. They have doubts about the compensation promised by the government, the terms are still unclear.

To calm things down, the government will try to simplify things. Today, farmers can be reimbursed by the State for part of this GNR. But one of the problems is that this reimbursement is made ex post. The farmer sends his invoice to the public finance department, a bit like the expense reports that the employee sends to his employer, and he receives his reimbursement one year later.

The government does not intend to reverse this increase

For operators, this therefore represents a cash advance. Not to mention that, overwhelmed by paperwork, one small farmer in five does not take the time to get reimbursed, which is a dead loss for them. To help them, the government is looking at how to repay a large part of the amount, almost immediately, within the year. And for the smallest farmers, an immediate lump sum reimbursement is envisaged, that is to say a sort of lump sum, reimbursed straight away. The operator will not even need to submit his application.

He’s not sure it’s enough to calm anger regarding the GNR. But, for the moment, there is no question of the government abandoning this tax increase. The executive is keen to do so; a decline would be a bad ecological signal. Then, if he gives in on agricultural GNR, his fear is contagion. Because other professions, notably truck drivers and transporters, have the same types of constraints on GNR. This position is risky, fuel, in France, has often been a crisis trigger. It was indeed an increase in taxes which, in large part, caused the yellow vest movement to explode.