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| PMI116A - Environmental taxes by economic activities NACE Rev.2 |
| Definition |
The statistical framework uses the following definition of an environmental tax, in line with Regulation (EU) No 691/2011:
A tax whose tax base is a physical unit (or a proxy of a physical unit) of something that has a proven, specific negative impact on the environment, and which is identified in ESA as a tax.
The definition puts emphasis on the effect of a given tax in terms of its impact on the cost of activities and the prices of products that have a negative effect on the environment. The environmental effect of a tax comes primarily through the impact it has on the relative prices of products and on the level of activities, in combination with the relevant price elasticities.
There are four main categories of environmental taxes:.
- Energy taxes (including fuel for transport)
- Transport taxes (excluding fuel for transport)
- Pollution taxes
- Resources taxes
Energy taxes This category includes taxes on energy production and on energy products used for both transport and stationary purposes. The most important energy products for transport purposes are petrol and diesel.
Energy products for stationary use include fuel oils, natural gas, coal and electricity. Taxes on biofuels and on any other form of energy from renewable sources are included. Taxes on stocks of energy products are also included. Carbon dioxide (CO2) taxes are included under energy taxes rather than under pollution taxes. There are several reasons for this. First of all, it is often not possible to identify CO2 taxes separately in tax statistics, because they are integrated with energy taxes, e.g. via differentiation of mineral oil tax rates according to the carbon content of the fuel. In addition, they are partly introduced as a substitute for other energy taxes and the revenue from these taxes can be very large compared to the revenue from pollution taxes. This means that including CO2 taxes with pollution taxes rather than energy taxes would distort both the time series at national level and international comparisons. If CO2 taxes are identifiable, these taxes should be reported as a separate category next to the total energy taxes. Taxes on greenhouse gas emissions other than CO2 should also be included here.
Transport taxes This category mainly includes taxes related to the ownership and use of motor vehicles. Taxes on other transport equipment (e.g. planes, ships or railway stocks), and related transport services (e.g. duties on charter or scheduled flights) are also included here, when they conform to the general definition of environmental taxes. The transport taxes may be ?one-off? taxes related to imports or sales of the equipment or recurrent taxes such as an annual road tax. All taxes on means of transport should be included, even taxes on means of transport that are considered to be relatively more environmentally friendly such as railway rolling stock and public transport in general. Also taxes on electric cars should be included. Taxes on vehicle insurance should also be included provided they are specific taxes on the insurance of vehicles and not general insurance taxes levied on all kinds of insurance contracts. Taxes on petrol, diesel and other transport fuels are included under energy taxes.
Pollution taxes This category includes taxes on measured or estimated emissions to air and water, management of solid waste and noise. An exception is the CO2-taxes, which are included under energy taxes as discussed above.
Taxes on lubricating oils may require specific analysis. Lubricating oils are not used for energetic purposes and are probably best placed under pollution taxes. Major environmental impacts can include soil or water pollution if lubricating oil is spilled. However, where lubricating oils are included in the mineral oil tax it may not be possible to identify the tax revenue related to lubricating oils.
Resource taxes This category includes taxes linked to the extraction or to the use of natural resources, such as water, forests, wild flora and fauna etc., as these activities deplete natural resources. All taxes designed to capture the resource rent from the extraction of natural resources should be excluded (for detail see section 2.6).
Most taxes on land are property taxes and belong to the ESA category D.51 (taxes on income). This guide recommends excluding all taxes on land from scope (see section 2.6 for detail). However, in some countries there are specific taxes to be paid for the conversion of landscapes (e.g. deforestation) which should be included.
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| Periodicity |
Annual |
| Data sources |
The work Environmental Taxes details |
| Methodology |
Methodology environmental taxes account |
| Last update |
JUL 08, 2024 |
| Responsible person |
Ene Victor, e-mail: victor.ene@insse.ro, int. 2184 |
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