Environment || A whole new batch of 39 ‘green taxes’, which if approved would lead to increases in the cost of everything from fuel and plane tickets to plastic bags, has been put forward by a government-appointed commission and is currently under public consultation before being discussed in Parliament at the end of the summer.
It is expected that the government will receive around €180 million if these new taxes come into effect.
One of the main proposals included in the commission’s report is the payment of a tax for all CO2 emissions, meaning it will not only affect companies but citizens too.
Thus fuel prices, for example, could increase around 1%, while natural gas could cost 1.4% more.
The commission also suggests a charge of 10 cents for plastic bags at supermarkets as well as a tax increase for plane tickets, among many other proposals which also include intentions to make bicycles and public transportation “tax-deductible”.
However, the idea proposed by the commission is that the money received from these taxes would then be given back to taxpayers through decreases in taxes such as the IRS (individual income tax) or the TSU (social security tax).
While the Ministry of Environment has guaranteed that the tax reform intends to “replace taxes, not increase them”, several organisations have raised their voices in protest of these measures, claiming they are nothing more than “disguised taxes”.
Environmental group Quercus is one of the few supporters of the ‘green taxes’. Quercus president Nuno Sequeira has deemed the proposals “very positive” as they could lead to “an improvement in the environmental performance of organisations and citizens”.
However, he defended that the measures should be explained “carefully” to the population. If not, they could be seen as “just another load of taxes”.
This is exactly how the Automobile Club of Portugal (ACP) sees these new ‘green taxes’.
“I can’t understand how a government that constantly speaks of economic recovery is actually going to compromise those who are responsible for that recovery – the small and medium-sized enterprises,” said ACP president Carlos Barbosa.
In his opinion, the measures are completely “surreal” and must have been made by “professors who live in a bunker and do not know the reality of the country”.
The proposals were also bashed by the head of the Order of Portuguese Chartered Accountants Domingues Azevedo, who said that they will only “overburden the Portuguese people, while forgetting those who actually harm the environment”.
According to the accountant, it should be “those who pollute who should pay and not those who suffer the consequences of pollution”.
The commission’s report is currently available for public consultation until September 15, after which it will be analysed by the government.
