The increase in the tax on GNR is one of the reasons for the anger of farmers. We’ll explain it to you.
Non-road diesel is a fuel that benefits from reduced taxation, exclusively intended for approved professionals, mainly farmers. Apart from the fact that it is dyed red to be differentiated, it is the same diesel as that which can be found at service stations. GNR has an advantageous taxation in order to relieve the expenses of farmers who use it massively to operate their machines. This is why the increase in taxation on January 1, 2024 is making the sector cringe.
Non-road diesel is taxed at 24.81 euro cents per liter, of which farmers can be reimbursed 18.1 cents at the end of the year, upon presentation of proof of their consumption to the administration. However, in 2023, the government has stated its intention to gradually eliminate this tax reduction, in an effort to decarbonize agriculture. After negotiations in June, the unions managed to obtain a gradual reduction in the tax refund. Furthermore, the government is committed to reinvesting the revenue recovered in the ecological transition of the agricultural sector.
As a result, from January 1, 2024, the tax on non-road diesel increased by almost three cents per liter. An apparently slight increase, but which quickly takes on large proportions on farms which consume thousands of liters of diesel each year. Especially since the principle of rebate at the end of the year forces farmers to make a significant cash advance. Let us add that to meet increasingly strict environmental standards, farmers must notably reduce their use of phytosanitary products, which leads to more regular use of agricultural machinery for certain crops.
Farmers are therefore mobilizing for an elimination of this planned reduction in the GNR tax refund. They are also campaigning for an immediate discount on the purchase of their fuel, instead of the one they must request at the end of each year. They hope to obtain answers from Gabriel Attal this Friday afternoon.
