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Green taxes 'are making billions'
BBC
Monday Sept 3, 2007
The government is raising billions of pounds more in green taxes
than it needs to remove the UK's "carbon footprint",
a report says.
The Taxpayers' Alliance said emissions in 2005 had done damage
worth an estimated £11.7bn, but green taxes and charges
in that year had made £21.9bn.
It claimed ministers were "cynically" raising revenue
rather than using the money to improve the environment.
But the Treasury said the pressure group's claims were "ridiculous".
'Over-paying'
But the Taxpayers' Alliance said the £11.7bn figure covered
the "social cost" of climate change to the world, such
as weather changes and related disasters.
(Article continues below)
It added that the burden of UK green taxes should not exceed
this figure.
The group also said that, on average, UK households were "over-paying"
£400 a year.
Fuel duty and vehicle excise duty were between 30 and 40 times
higher than the level needed to cover estimates of the social
cost of CO2 emissions.
The doubling of Air Passenger Duty, announced in last year's pre-Budget
report, was actually likely to have increased total emissions from
air travel, creating incentives for longer flights, the report added.
Meanwhile, it said the landfill tax was raising up to £620m
more than was needed to meet the social costs of methane emissions
from landfill.
Corin Taylor, research director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:
"Green taxes and charges impose substantial costs on, amongst
others, northern manufacturers and the NHS.
"Green taxes in the UK are already well in excess of the
level they need to be to meet the academic estimates of the social
costs of carbon emissions.
'Unjustified'
"Every household is paying more than £400 extra in
tax every year because green taxes are set too high.
"UK taxpayers are already more than doing their bit to pay
for the costs of pollution and additional green taxes would be
completely unjustified."
But a Treasury spokesman said: "The government's definition
of environmental taxes includes those taxes that are designed
to primarily have an environmental impact - the climate change
levy, aggregates levy and landfill tax.
"We make clear, for example, when setting fuel duty rates that
the Government takes into account a range of factors, including
costs of motoring such as congestion, and the need to maintain sound
public finances.
"It is ridiculous to argue that the government is failing
against its environmental objectives. The UK is one of a few countries
on course to meet its Kyoto commitments. By 2010 we will have
met it almost twice over - cutting greenhouse gas emissions by
more than 20%."
A spokesman said: "In arguing against these taxes, the Taxpayers'
Alliance are being doubly dangerous - it would mean cuts to public
services, schools and hospitals, as well as higher carbon emissions
leading to accelerated climate change."
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