Government moots "green cent" on fuel as revenues wane
Relatively low environmental taxes in Spain offer an opportunity to square the budgetary circle
Spain is the EU country with the lowest green tax receipts as a share of GDP, according to Eurostat figures. Revenues from pollution taxes represent 1.62 percent of national wealth, a whole point lower than the European average of 2.6 percent.
But dwindling revenues from indirect taxes - chiefly VAT, which have declined over 10 percent so far this year - is endangering the deficit target of 5.3 percent of GDP for the end of the year. That is why the government is considering all options.
"In Spain the field is wide open for establishing environmental levies," said Marta Fernández Curras, secretary of state for the budget, a few days ago. Fernández Curras admitted that the government is thinking about implementing the so-called "green cent," a tax on fuel.
Although the fuel tax was initially meant to cover deficits in renewable energy rates, the Finance Ministry is now considering using part of the 1.5 billion euros it could collect to balance out other parts of the budget.
