The German government’s recent plans to introduce road tolls (so-called infrastructure levies) have given rise to an intense debate over its distributional effects. Since the measure combines charges for all car drivers within the German road network with reductions in the tariff of the motor vehicle tax, which benefits German car owners only, strong objections continue to circulate. The article addresses the question whether such a package of infrastructure and tax policy measures can justifiably be blamed for causing discriminatory effects on foreigners. It is argued that while the burden of the measure is effectively imposed on non-German users of German roads, the combination of tax increases with tax cuts by a national government should — for the sake of a beneficial federal system — not be ruled out in response to unsubstantiated claims of discrimination. Copyright ZBW and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
