Estonia’s Minister of Finance, Jürgen Ligi, has rejected a proposal to lower the excise duty on diesel fuel temporarily, ERR reports. Ligi argued that broad-based tax cuts would have a very large and lasting negative impact on the state budget, and that targeted measures to support vulnerable households and sectors would be more sensible. In the current security situation, both national defence and social welfare required additional funding, he noted. The government had already cancelled a planned hike in fuel excise duties, Ligi added. Earlier, Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry Erkki Keldo also rejected the idea to cut the diesel tax for now, ERR repoted. However, he did not rule out the possibility of lowering the tax later. Organisations representing Estonia’s transport, logistics, and fuel sectors proposed reducing the diesel tax to the EU minimum of EUR 330 per 1,000 litres for at least three months, ERR reported.
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