When green taxes don't go towards green issues
The UK government is under serious pressure today after raising £54 million in an auction of carbon permits in the UK. The £54 million raised covers 4 million permits for £13.60 per tonne under the European Unions emissions trading scheme. However, the government has confirmed that the proceeds raised would not necessarily be used to tackle the ever-growing issue of climate change.
This has caused major concern across a range of environmental groups who also pinpoint the fact that by 2012 the Treasury could raise over £1 billion and by 2013 this could rise to about £2.5 billion. It is rather strange that taxes which have been introduced to help climate change are not being used for the purpose in question. This also begs the question as to what use the government is making of the array of green taxes currently raised in UK on an annual basis.
Green taxation has been a very controversial subject since day one as there is no direct route to account for the taxes raised and how they are used. Many taxpayers in the UK are concerned that green taxes automatically mean increased taxation for the UK population, with no recourse for those who are hitting the many government targets.
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