Die Entfernungspauschale als steuertheoretische Herausforderung

In Germany, commuting expenses have been deductible from the income tax base for a long time. Germany’s grand coalition has now restricted this deduction. The article analyses whether or not this was justified from an economic point of view. It is shown that, in the long run, the tax treatment of commuting expenses has nothing to do with production efficiency. Commuting rather represents a form of household production. The overall conclusion is that the more restrictive tax treatment seems economically justifiable.