Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
€/GJ
Electricity
Petrol/gas-oil
VAT
7.70
6.65
a
b
Other taxes
1.78
9.20
Other costs
16.84
0.21
Other income
-7.14
-9.50
TOTAL
19.18
6.56
Fig. 3 Estimated extraordinary costs in electricity and transport sectors. a This includes tax on
electricity in the case of the electricity sector and the special tax on hydrocarbons in the transport
sector, b Costs not associated with electricity supply (premiums for renewables, etc.) and costs of
biofuel mixture allowances for the transport sector
in place for renewable energies, pseudo-environmental taxes established by regions,
etc.) to set up a level playing-
eld that enables the environmental burden on each
sector to be determined.
3.2.2 Progress Towards a European Tax Reform to Include the
Principles of Reform Raised in the Draft Directive: The Case of
Spain
The impact assessment accompanying the proposal for a revised Directive, drawn
up by the European Commission, acknowledges the need for tax harmonisation at
European level to prevent distortion of the internal market due to the current
situation with so many different taxes and concepts in each Member State. At
national level there is a similar problem, leading to a scenario that might be
described as
.
Moreover, at state level there are few taxes that may be considered to be gen-
uinely linked to the environment or to include the environment as a variable in any
way. Corporation Tax, for example, provides for deductions in the case of
investments that may be considered to be made in the environment, but beyond that
these taxes are normally applied to the energy sector (transport and electricity).
Therefore the transport sector is affected by various taxes that are sometimes at odds
with environmental logic: for example, the Spanish IVMDH tax
15
is levied on
bioethanol and biodiesel, both of which are renewable, but not on natural gas or
LPG (liquid petroleum gas).
On the other hand, Spain
“
pseudo-environmental taxation
”
'
s Autonomous Regions have compensated for the void
in state-level environmental taxation: hence, most environmental taxes apply at
regional and not at central government level [
10
]. However, regional taxes on the
energy sector, and in particular on the electricity sector, have traditionally been
based on a presumed environmental goal with the intention of increasing revenue
from the regions. This category includes many charges and fees that are widely
heterogeneous and geographically distant within the State. They mostly apply to
electricity generation and distribution grids.
15
Tax on the Retail Sale of Certain Hydrocarbons.
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