And the oil-producing countries' budget. Most countries have production sharing agreements. And those agreements usually have a clause in which the split on super-profits is much more favorable to the country (like 70/30 instead of 60/40) than normal profits.

>You'll even hear about a discount around VAT/2 if you pay with cash sometimes.

That's because they do VAT (and Corporate tax) fraud.

I've encountered this issue recently for the first time.

Usually, there is a deposit pre-authorized on the card. The additional insurance plans would lower the deposit (to a few hundred for fuel basically). I usually take the insurance plans anyway because I've had bad experiences that made me happy I had it.

Now, I was in a place where rental companies required credit cards except for the lower end models. It took me a few attempts for one to realize that I would take the additional insurance anyway.