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18. 03. 10. - 15:00

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18. 03. 10. - 15:00

Minister calls for CO2 emissions tax

Austria's environment minister has called for the introduction of a carbon tax that he says would bring in 1.5 to 2.0 billion Euros of revenue annually, according to today’s (Thurs) edition of the newspaper Die Presse.

Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich, of the People’s Party (ÖVP), wants a tax of 20 to 30 Euros per tonne of CO2 emissions.

Auto fuel would be excluded from the tax since it is already taxed.

"There will not be any double taxation," Berlakovich was quoted as saying.

He said the impact of such a tax on the end price of electricity was not yet clear, but a tax of 30 Euros on each tonne of CO2 emitted would raise the price of natural gas by six cents a cubic metre, doubling the amount of the tax currently in force.

The minister also said there would be exceptions for energy-intensive industry and people with low incomes.

He added that two-thirds of the revenue from such a tax would be returned to taxpayers through lower ancillary wage costs, and the rest would go into the budget.

The new tax will not be not the only additional burden Austrians will soon face if the federal government has its way.

Earlier this month, it announced drastic plans for higher taxes next year in a bid to cut the budget deficit.

Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Werner Faymann and ÖVP Finance Minister Josef Pröll said the coalition planned to spend 1.7 billion Euros less next year and raise the same amount in additional tax revenue.

Faymann and Pröll remained tight-lipped on tax increases or the introduction of new taxes. The government recently agreed on a so-called bank solidarity tax which it hoped would bring in around 500 million Euros per year.

The finance minister promised the cuts would take place "in an economically reasonable and socially bearable" way next year.

The chancellor claimed the SPÖ-ÖVP coalition had no plans to increase so-called "mass taxes" such as value-added tax (VAT), since such a move would badly affect a large part of the population. "The crisis of the speculators will not be shifted onto the people," he promised.

Austrian Times

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