Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) expects the planned plastic tax to generate €805 million in revenue for the federal government. Beginning in 2028, this revenue is projected to rise to approximately €1.4 billion annually. This estimate is detailed in a draft submitted by the Federal Ministry of Finance, as reported by the “Handelsblatt”.
According to the draft, the tax aims both to secure additional funding for the federal budget and simultaneously help reduce the consumption of plastic packaging. While the tax is technically paid by companies, the design intends for the companies responsible for the taxes to pass the financial burden along to their end customers.
However, the implementation of the new tax will also incur significant costs and administrative burdens for both the state and the private sector. For the federal budget alone, the Ministry of Finance forecasts expenses totaling €284 million up to 2029, covering costs within the Information Technology Center (ITZ) and customs, among others. Once 2029 arrives, the annual financial expenditure for the federal government is expected to be €104 million.
On the business side, companies will face one-time bureaucratic costs amounting to around €8.8 million. Furthermore, the draft projects that the ongoing yearly extra burden on the economy will be approximately €44.1 million, which stems entirely from increased bureaucratic costs related to new information requirements.
