POLL FINDS U.S. VOTERS FAVOR GREEN TAXESAmericans Want Higher Taxes on Pollution to Lower Other Taxes, According to New Survey Washington, D.C.—American voters want tax reform that shifts taxes away from payrolls and income and towards polluting energy sources such as coal, gasoline and diesel, according to a national survey released today. The telephone survey, commissioned by the national environmental organization Friends of the Earth, found that more than 2 out of 3 voters surveyed favored environmental tax shifting as a way to reform the U.S. tax system. "Voters want a fairer tax system that discourages pollution, encourages energy efficiency and funds tax cuts on labor and income", said Brian Dunkiel, director of tax policy and staff attorney at Friends of the Earth. "An environmental tax shift would simultaneously clean our environment, encourage a stronger economy and build more fairness into the tax system". Voters Would Support Environmental Tax Shift More than 70 percent of the respondents, representing a cross-section of Republican, Democrat and Independent voters, supported an increase in taxes on energy sources that pollute the environment, using those revenues to reduce existing taxes on payrolls and income. Respondents also supported a tax on air and water pollution, voicing slightly more support for this type of environmental "sin tax" than for taxes on cigarettes or liquor. The survey was conducted by International Communications Research of Media, PA, from May 29- June 2, 1998 among a sample of 500+ registered U.S. voters and has a +/- 4% margin of error. "What these survey results show is that the sensibility of environmental tax shifting appeals to voters", said Dunkiel. New Guidebook on Green Tax Reform Released Friends of the Earth today also released a report, Citizens’ Guide to Environmental Tax Shifting, which provides taxpayers with information about how the tax system can be harnessed to enhance both the economy and the environment. By using the principles of fair taxation, the Citizens’ Guide compares environmental tax shifting to other tax reform proposals such as a flat tax and national sales tax. To receive the report, call Friends of the Earth at 202-783-7400. Businessperson and author Paul Hawken writes an introduction for the report in which he points out that basic economics tells us that the more something is taxed, the less we get of it. Yet, the majority of U.S. taxes fall on things Americans want to increase, such as individual income, payroll and corporate income. A closer look shows that more than half of all tax revenues are raised with taxes on income either through the payroll tax or the individual income tax. In fact, the payroll tax is the fastest-growing of all major taxes. According to government figures, between 1970 and 1992, the tax payment for a worker jumped from $374 to $5,329, an increase of 1,325 percent. The report shows that environmental tax shifting has been gaining strength among opinion-makers and policy groups. For example, environmental tax shifting was endorsed in 1996 as a policy recommendation by the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, which was signed by a diversity of parties including the leaders of Dow Chemical Company, Chevron, General Motors, Enron, AFL-CIO and the Sierra Club. Friends of the Earth is working with state and national legislators to develop tax reform that furthers environmental protections, energy efficiency, renewable forms of power and environmental technology. "Tax shifting would be a win-win situation for the workforce and business. It cuts across political lines to make taxes work for all of us, helping to reduce cancer-causing toxic substances and clean up our rivers and streams", said Dunkiel. —— Founded in 1969, Friends of the Earth is a national environmental advocacy organization with affiliates in 58 countries. U.K. BUSINESSES TRADE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FOR TAX REBATE1-4-2000 While Canada cannot get one economic instrument off the ground, the U.K. has proceeded to establish a tax rebate program for green house gas reductions. The UK’s ten most energy intensive industrial sectors have agreed to emit 2.5 million tons less carbon dioxide (CO2) annually by 2010 in return for rebates on a forthcoming energy tax, the UK environment ministry said Tuesday. The ten sectors account for over half the energy used by UK manufacturers. Companies will be able to use a planned national emissions trading scheme to help meet their targets. Heat trapping emissions of carbon dioxide produced by burning oil, gas and coal are blamed for global warming. This new agreement with industry on energy efficiency will bring to at least four million tons the total annual emissions reduction from the tax package, ministry officials said. Due to start generating revenues from April 2001, the climate change energy tax was announced in March this year. It was recently fine tuned after a consultation process with industries, which had argued for a 90 percent rebate for the most energy intensive sectors. The levy will be charged on all businesses at UK£0.15 (euros 0.24) (US$.24) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for gas and coal, and UK£0.43 per kWh (US$.69) for electricity. Revenues will fund a 0.3 percent reduction in business employment taxes and will support renewable energy projects. Under the accord, companies in areas such as cement making, steel, chemicals and paper will receive an 80 percent rebate on the tax if they adhere to an emission-reduction schedule leading to cuts of around 2.5 million tons of CO2 within a decade. Agreements with other eligible sectors are expected to be concluded in February. Eligibility is based on classification as energy intensive under the UK’s national legislation implementing the 1996 European Union integrated pollution prevention and control directive. Companies will continue to be eligible for the rebate if they pass twice yearly checks that they are meeting interim goals towards the main target. The government says the level of stringency is comparable between sectors. Along with the changes announced in November, the rebate represents a big shift towards meeting industry concerns that the levy would harm the competitiveness of energy intensive firms. Industries such as chlorine manufacture using electricity as a "feedstock" in electrolytic processes will be exempt from the tax, as will energy products which serve a dual purpose as a fuel and as a feedstock within the same process. {Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe’s choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. e-mail envdaily@ends.co.uk} LONDON, UK, December 23, 1999 Additional Source of Information: |