Incentive tax

Incentive tax or steering tax is a tax whose main purpose is not to generate income , but primarily pursues the goal of directing the behavior of the taxpayer in a certain direction desired by the legislature. The term cannot be clearly delineated because many tax laws, through their design, cause behavioral control that is not always expressly sought (evasive reactions). The Pigou tax is a subset of incentive taxes in the event of negative external effects .

An example of a steering tax is the motor vehicle tax . In Germany, it is designed in such a way that there is an incentive to choose a model that is as low-emission as possible when purchasing a new car. Cars with high emissions, on the other hand, are also taxed heavily. Similarly, in Austria there is a standard consumption tax for motor vehicles .

In the meantime, it has also been legally clarified by the Federal Constitutional Court that the purpose of generating income may subordinate to the purpose of controlling behavior. Income generation can be a secondary purpose as long as there is still an objective relevance to earnings of the norm. This means that as long as tax revenue can be expected in any case, the tax status remains and the steering purpose is justified. The success with the steering purpose is associated with a steering tax with a failure in the income generation purpose. The tax revenue decreases when the taxpayer behave as desired. For example, after the increase in the tobacco tax in March 2004, cigarette consumption in Germany temporarily fell significantly.

Reimbursement

But there are also incentive taxes, such as B. the VOC tax in Switzerland , the income of which is fully distributed to the population. In this case, the income generation purpose no longer applies. The ideal goal of a reimbursement is to create positive incentives: people who behave in the desired way are rewarded and the disposable income is increased. A redistribution of steering taxes is often referred to as a tax subsidy . Whether this designation makes sense depends on whether it is understood to mean only direct transfers of public funds to private individuals or whether the state waives income to promote purchasing power and jobs ( double dividend ). In the official language of the Federal Government, such revenue waivers are referred to as "subsidy-like facts". In contrast to fiscal taxes (such as income tax and sales tax), which mainly serve to finance government tasks, the steering tax is intended to steer consumer behavior. The alcopop tax as a special tax makes an indirect contribution to health care and thus to the common good because young people consume less harmful products because of the high price.

Example taxes on plastics and plastics

After the successes in levies on plastic bags in Ireland , the responsibility for littering the oceans with plastic and the increasing levels of microplastics in soils, rivers and lakes, a plastic tax with a steering effect is being considered. In the EU-wide tax on plastic proposed by EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger in autumn 2017, also because of the spread of plastic waste , critics such as First Vice-President of the Commission Frans Timmermans see the "intention that people no longer use it"; In a perfect world, revenues would decline and would therefore not be suitable for funding the EU in the long term. With an EU plastic strategy, all plastic products should be recyclable by 2030 as an alternative. The German Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze also prefers intelligent control with the new packaging law to avoid more waste , to recycle more and to change consumer awareness. The Federal Chairman of the Greens and Environment Ministers in Schleswig-Holstein, Robert Habeck , spoke out in favor of a tax with a steering effect and against the previous tax concessions in the production of plastics, sees this as a compensation for the loss of revenue of the state of at least 780 million euros. Instead of appeals and the privatization of politics, there is an obligation of the government and, in connection with a reduction in VAT on recycled plastic, according to the German Development Minister Gerd Müller, also of the legislature.

See also

• Incentive tax (Switzerland)
• Local transport tax
• Environmental tax , eco tax

Publications

• René L. Frey : Basic features of a resource -optimized tax system for Switzerland - incentive taxes , PDF 2007, environmental knowledge no. 0710. Swiss Confederation, Federal Office for the Environment , Bern. 35 p., Number UW-0710-D, online publication

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Worksheet Steering Tax: Controlling Consumption and Protecting Health Federal Ministry of Finance / AG Youth and Education eV (PDF) April 2007, accessed July 14, 2013
2. ↑ For details, Simon Kempny , Steuerrecht und Verfassungsrecht, StuW 2014, p. 185 (188).
3. ↑ 19th subsidy report of the Federal Government, Bundestag printed paper 15/1536 (PDF; 2.6 MB, p. 16)
4. ↑ Environment Minister Schulze rejects plastic tax , Die Zeit , May 11, 2018
5. ↑ Robert Habeck and Oliver Krischer : Environmental protection - away from disposable plastic, towards the green chemical revolution! , Der Tagesspiegel , May 22, 2018.
6. ↑ Minister Müller open to plastic tax ( Memento of the original from May 24, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Gießener Anzeiger , May 17, 2018.