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UK pays â??too much green tax'

Families are paying nearly £800 a year too much in green taxes, according to a new report by a pressure group. The Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) claims that the amount of tax paid on flights, fuels and cars is far more than that needed to offset the cost of the country’s carbon emissions.

The total burden of green taxes and charges was £24.2bn in 2007/08. By comparison the social cost of the UK’s entire output of greenhouse gases was £4.6bn, says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The Government puts the cost of greenhouse gas emissions as £16.3bn - which would mean green taxes are still £7.9bn too high, the TPA said.

Matthew Sinclair, TPA policy analyst, said: “Green taxes are set far higher than is necessary to pay for our carbon footprint, which loads an unfair burden onto hard pressed British families and businesses.

“The Government are talking about raising taxes even further, but our conclusions show that green taxes should be kept as they are or cut.”

Households and industry are charged green taxes in the form of fuel duty, vehicle excise duty, landfill tax, the Climate Change Levy and the Renewables Obligation.

The eco-tax burden also varies significantly between suburban areas and urban districts, the TPA said. Using the IPCC estimate, campaigners said residents of the Essex town of Maldon pay £607 per person in excess green taxes, while residents in Camden pay just £62 each.

A Treasury spokesman said: “The estimate of green taxes is wrong as it includes taxes used to fund core public services, rather than simply offsetting the cost of CO2.

“For example, while fuel duty recognises the environmental costs of driving, it also pays for important public services, including new roads and public transport and efforts to tackle child poverty.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .