Does the tank discount work or not? Politics and business argue about this. The Munich ifo Institute is now reporting that the oil companies have certainly lowered prices in Germany. However, the discount is still a “wrong signal”, says ifo President Clemens Fuest.
According to calculations by the Ifo Institute, the oil companies, which have been criticized for rising petrol prices, have largely passed on the tank discount to motorists. In the case of diesel, the gas stations would have passed on 100 percent of the temporary tax reduction of 17 cents per liter, the Munich economists said on Tuesday. At Super it was 85 percent of 35 cents lower taxes.
The calculations were based on a comparison with France, where there is no tank discount. Gasoline has become steadily more expensive there in recent weeks as a result of rising oil prices. In Germany, on the other hand, petrol prices initially fell sharply before picking up again. Most recently, the ADAC had criticized that the tax cut would largely go to the oil companies.
Ifo President Clemens Fuest criticized the tank discount. “However, it does not follow from this that the tank discount makes sense,” Fuest said on Twitter. He is a tax gift for the wealthy. “It benefits people with higher incomes and higher spending on fuel, not people with lower incomes,” Fuest wrote in the statement.
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“Furthermore, it sets the wrong incentives: it does not encourage people to use less petrol and diesel. For ecological reasons and to reduce dependence on Russia, the exact opposite would be necessary.”