Environmental taxes in the Netherlands, 1990-2002
Changes in Regulatory Energy Tax
Revenue from the Regulatory Energy Tax (REB) has increased sharply. Since the introduction in 1996, the revenue from this tax has increased more than fourfold. The budgetted revenue for 2002 is more than EUR 2.4 billion.
Contribution of 'environmental taxes' to total green taxes
The introduction of the environmental taxes has resulted in an increase in the revenue from green taxes since 1991. The figures in this indicator provide a picture of the category 'environmental consumer tax' as a part of green taxes as a whole.
Note on environmental taxes
Environmental taxes are covered by the Environmental Taxes Act, which came into effect in 1995. An important aim of this act was to bring about a shift from tax on income to tax on environmentally-harmful activities. Taxes covered by the act include a tax on fuel consumption (that had already been in place since 1992), a tax on groundwater, a tax on waste, a regulatory energy tax (introduced in 1996 and also known as the 'ecotax') and a tax on tap water (introduced in 2000).
Green taxes are designed to bring about price increases in order to slow down activities that burden the environment. The revenue from these taxes is not specifically used to finance government environmental measures.
