Record income from dog tax in the Corona year 2020

On the dog because of Corona: A trend that gives cities and municipalities more income through the corresponding tax.

[Wiesbaden -] Between lockdown and broken vacation dreams, many people in Germany have apparently implemented their long-cherished wish for a four-legged friend in 2020: According to the Federal Statistical Office, record income from dog tax was achieved in the first year of the pandemic.

The public coffers received around 380 million euros from dog tax in 2020. For the cities and municipalities, this meant, according to the authority on Tuesday, an increase of 2.7 percent compared to the previous year. In 2019, the income from dog tax amounted to 370 million euros.

The trend has continued so far in 2021, it said. In the first quarter of 2021, the income from the dog tax was around 159 million euros and thus 8.4 percent above the income of the same quarter of the previous year. In the first quarter of 2020, dog tax income was 146 million euros.

However, the trend towards pets developed before the pandemic, as far as tax revenues are an indication of this. In 2010, the dog tax had brought cities and municipalities 258 million euros. The prices for dog and cat food have increased according to the information, however, only below average. In August 2021, dog owners only had to spend 0.7 percent more on food than the annual average in 2015. Overall, consumer prices rose by 10.1 percent over the same period. [dpa]