|
Selected
Examples of Explicit Environmental Tax Reform Packages
|
|
|
Country
|
Taxes
Cut or Items Funded |
Taxed
Raised on |
Magnitude |
Effects |
|
| Sweden
(1991) |
Personal Income Tax (PIT)
Energy taxes on agriculture
Continuous education |
CO2
SO2
Various |
6% of total tax revenue |
CO2 emissions 3-4% lower than
without the taxes. SO2 emissions dropped by
80% from 1980 to 1998. |
| Denmark
(1994) |
PIT
Social Security Contributions (SSC) |
Various (gasoline, electricity, water, waste, cars)
CO2
SO2
Capital gains |
Over 6% of total tax revenue |
In the 1990s, industrial production grew by 27% while
CO2 emissions decreased by 7%. SO2
emissions decreased by 24% from 1995 to 1997. |
| Netherlands
(1996) |
Corporate Profits Tax (CPT)
PIT
SSC |
CO2 |
Around 0.5% of total tax revenue |
As a result of the Regulatory Energy Tax, household
electricity usage decreased 15%, and fuel usage decreased by 5-10%. |
| United
Kingdom (1996) |
SSC |
Landfill |
Around 0.1% of total tax revenues in 1999 |
Lower tax rate for ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD), compared
to conventional diesel, caused complete nationwide conversion to ULSD
between July 1998 and December 1999. |
| Finland
(1997) |
PIT
SSC |
CO2
Landfill
Corporate profits |
Around 0.5% of total tax revenue |
Between 1990 and 1998, CO2 emissions
were 7% lower than without the taxes. |
| Norway
(1999) |
PIT |
CO2
SO2
Diesel oil |
0.2% of total tax revenue in 1999 |
Between 1991 and 1996, CO2 emissions
from continental shelf oil companies were 8% lower than without the
taxes. |
| Germany
(1999) |
SSC
Renewable energy |
Petroleum products |
Around 2% of total tax revenue in 2001 |
In the first half of 2001, motor fuel sales were 5%
lower than the same period in 1999. |
| Italy
(1999) |
SSC |
Petroleum products |
Less than 0.1% of total tax revenue in 1999 |
|
|
| Abbreviations: CPT=Corporate profit tax; PIT=Personal
income tax; SSC=Social security contributions; CO2=Carbon dioxide;
SO2=Sulfur dioxide. |
|
|
From Benoît Bosquet,
"The Role of Natural Resources in Fundamental Tax Reform: Theory,
Practice and Prospects," PhD dissertation, University of Maryland,
College Park, 2001, with effects (and magnitudes of Sweden and Germany)
compiled by Earth Policy Institute from OECD,
European Environment Agency, European Environmental Bureau Campaign
on Environmental Fiscal Reform, and Kai Schlegelmilch.
Note: Some countries
enacted environmental taxes prior to recycling the revenue by reducing
other taxes; thus, some environmental benefits appeared prior to
the date when the environmental tax reform officially began, as
indicated in parentheses..
|
