Tax on energy should be more fairly spread, says environment agency

Photo: DutchNews.nl
Photo: DutchNews.nl

Private households and small firms are paying disproportionately large amounts in energy taxes when compared with the environmental damage they cause, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) says in a new report.

By contrast, heavy industry and shipping pay less than they should and farming largely escapes any form of carbon pricing, the agency said on Monday.

The system of taxes on electricity should be looked at again, particularly in the light of plans to phase out the use of gas and shift towards sustainable energy only, the PBL said.

The current system, the PBL says, ‘gets in the way of the energy transition’ because energy produced by wind turbines is taxed as the same rate as that produced in a coal-fired power station.

This means ‘there is no stimulus to produce energy from sustainable sources,’ the PBL said.

The PBL also recommends looking again at the reduced taxes on energy granted to the greenhouse gardening sector and considering reducing the tax on sustainable energy used by private households.

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