BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's federal government has shelved a plan to boost electric car sales via corporate tax breaks because it could not secure the consent of state governments whose coffers stood to lose revenue, officials said on Monday.
The Berlin government of conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to have 1 million electric cars on German roads by 2020, but some critics say the goal looks unrealistic.
In December, the cabinet agreed plans to reduce annual CO2 emissions by up to 78 million tonnes by 2020 to help Europe's biggest economy meet ambitious targets to fight climate change.
As part of this plan, the governing coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats announced new steps such as allowing the owners of electric company cars to offset half the cost of the vehicle against tax.
However, this plan has now been put on ice for the time being, a government official told Reuters, confirming German media reports.
One reason for the move was that Merkel's government was unable to reach a deal with state governments that would have been be affected by the tax shortfalls, the official said.
(Reporting by Markus Wacket; Writing by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Mark Heinrich)