본 연구는 에너지세제개편이 종료된 2007년부터 매년 유류세의 종량세액을 소비자물가지수에 연동하여 자동조정해주었다는 가상적인 상황을 전제로 수송용 연료유(휘발유, 경유)의 소비량, 세부담(세수) 및 유류세의 소득재분배 효과에 미치는 영향을 추정·분석하였다. 일반균형적 관점에서 선형지출체계 수요함수를 설정하고 휘발유와 경유의 가격탄력성을 추정하였다. 2014년 가계동향조사원시자료를 이용하여 모의실험을 통해 추정한 결과, 유류세 물가연동제가 도입되었다면 2014년 현재 일반가계의 휘발유, 경유의 소비량은 각각 8.8%와 5.4% 축소되었을 것으로 분석되었다. 일반적으로 소비세는 소득역진적이어서 부(-)의 소득재분배 효과를 나타내는 경우가 많지만 수송용 유류세는 소득분배구조를 소폭 개선시키는 것으로 분석되었다. 물가연동세제의 도입을 유류 소비량을 감소시키지만 세율인상 효과가 소비감소 효과를 압도하여 유류세 세수는 11.9% 증가하는 것으로 추정되었다. 유류세 부담의 누진도는 미약하게 약화되지만, 세수증가 효과가 이를 압도하여 소득재분배 효과는 소폭 증가(+0.12%→+0.13%)하는 것으로 분석되었다.
This paper estimates the effects of imaginary repeated increases in excise duties on fuel oil consumption and on their income redistribution according to changes in consumer price index, if the inflation indexation system was introduced right after the second Energy Tax Reform ended in July, 2007 in Korea. In fact, nominal excise rates have not been adjusted since 2007. As a result, the real excise rates on fuel oils have been diminished inversely proportional to the consumer price index. Own- and cross-price elasticities of fuel oils such as gasoline and diesel oil are estimated under the general equilibrium framework based on the linear expenditure system. Counterfactual analyses through microsimulation in a static model are adopted to estimate the effects of introducing inflation indexation into the fuel tax in 2007 when the second Energy Tax reform ended on the fuel consumption and income redistribution in 2014. Microsimulations suggest that its introduction could have reduced the consumption of gasoline and diesel oil by 8.8% and 5.4%, respectively, ending up with increased excise revenue by 11.9%. The revenue increase in spite of decreased consumption is mainly because their demands are price inelastic. It could also have increased positive income redistributive effect by 0.01%p (from 0.12% to 0.13%), which is measured in terms of percentage decrease in Gini coefficient. In other words, the fuel excise on the two fuel oils decreased by 0.13% the Gini coefficient of before and after fuel tax income in 2014. This implies that the inflation indexation could have enlarged the income redistributive effect up to 0.13% in 2014, if it is introduced in 2007.