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The Carbon Tax is another inequitable tax on the poor & rural dwellers

  • 12-10-2009 7:47pm
    #1
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭


    According to Richard Tol of the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin and the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam...

    "A carbon tax would not hit everybody equally and two groups in particular stand out. Such a tax would increase the price of fuel for transport and home heating. The average household spends much more on transport than on heating. Consequently, a carbon tax hits commuters.

    Long-distance commuters are hit hardest because they tend to drive bigger cars. Households in the commuter belt could pay more than €275 a year in carbon taxes, while those in the city centre could pay less than €25.

    The other vulnerable group is the poor. They spend a larger share of their income on heating than anyone else, partly because they often live in old, poorly insulated houses with decrepit heating.

    A carbon tax would cost the poorest households more than 2 per cent of their income, while the richest would lose less than 0.5 per cent.

    An increase in benefits and tax credits would compensate households across the income distribution. This can be financed easily from the carbon tax revenue, meaning the negative side-effects of such a tax can be remedied."

    The last paragraph is an important one, but I sincerely doubt that anything will be done to offset the costs of those who can least afford it.


Comments

  • #2
    sceptre
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,608 ✭✭✭✭sceptre


    1. It's good practice and polite to credit your source (as mentioned in the forum charter), which is entirely here. It's less fun when I have to do it - writers and publications deserve credit, though I'll definitely give you that you quoted excerpts rather than the whole thing, which is good.

    2. Please read the charter about including your own views when quoting articles - your one line take at the end isn't long enough, particularly when the rest of it isn't clearly credited or referenced.

    Dammit, my 15,000th post and it looks a bit narky, even though the charter's pretty clear about the common sense approach. Here's a happy face: :)


This discussion has been closed.
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