The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The war against CO₂ in cars begins in Catalonia

2021-05-18T16:11:57.526Z


This community begins to apply a pioneer tax in Spain that will tax the owners of vehicles with the most emissions. Their income will go to finance "measures to protect biodiversity"


Four years after approving the measure, with an appeal of unconstitutionality and a global pandemic involved, the Catalan Government will begin to collect from next November the so-called CO₂ tax, a pioneering tribute in Spain that will be levied by sections each year on the owners of the most polluting vehicles (cars, vans and motorcycles). The tax is progressive (whoever produces the most emissions pays more) and the Generalitat estimates that it will affect 2.3 million vehicles and will collect 67 million euros in the first full year to be settled. Their income will go to a “climate fund” and to finance “measures to protect biodiversity”. The experts consulted value the measure, but with nuances. "It is a good sign that shows us the way",says Jordi Roca, Professor of Economics at the University of Barcelona, ​​“but I don't think it will have a significant impact on reducing emissions”.

The Government had to legally refine this new tax that, from the Generalitat, it was known from the beginning that it had many possibilities of ending up in the Constitutional Court.

The levy was introduced in the Climate Change Law approved by the Catalan Parliament in 2017 at the request of the CUP, but seven months later it was provisionally suspended after being appealed by the Government of Mariano Rajoy.

The State considered that the tax invaded competences and overlapped with the registration tax, which is already levied on the most polluting cars based on the grams of carbon dioxide they emit per kilometer traveled.

The tax was introduced in the Climate Change Law approved by the Catalan Parliament in 2017 at the request of the CUP, but seven months later it was suspended

The difference is that while with the registration tax the owners only pay for excess pollution once [when they buy the vehicle], with the new Catalan rate they will do so every year. It is also novel that all the proceeds go to finance a recently created Climate Change Office. The Constitutional Court lifted its suspension in 2018 after dismissing the arguments of the central Executive.

The truth is that the Catalan tax is ahead of the tax modifications to the car that the different executives have been parking in the same years due to its complexity of competence, since the merger of the registration tax (state-owned) and the circulation tax is proposed. (municipal), which is taxed annually based on the power of the vehicle. The experts, and the industry, want the new tribute to take into account the emission of CO₂.

The Catalan Government opted for a progressive rate in which those who pollute the most pay the most. In this first year, cars and motorcycles that pollute more than 120 grams per kilometer and vans that exceed 160 grams will begin to pay. Their calculations show that the owners of passenger cars that pollute between 120 and 140 grams per kilometer will have to pay an average of 8.8 euros. Those who pollute between 140 and 160 grams per kilometer will have to pay 17.8 euros, and 38 euros for those who do so between 160 and 200 grams. The most polluting (those that exceed 200 grams per kilometer) must pay 96 euros. With the current car park and taking these scales into account, the Government has calculated a general average in which each owner of a polluting car will pay about 35 euros a year. Although this calculation can be misleading,since the fluctuations in the amount to pay between a car that pollutes little and another that pollutes more than 200 grams are significant.

Congress passes the first climate law to eradicate greenhouse gases by 2050

In the case of motorcycles, the Government's calculations show that motorists with vehicles that contaminate more than 120 grams will pay an average of 26.5 euros.

And van drivers who exceed 160 grams about 21 euros.

Historic cars and ambulances, official vehicles and those adapted for people with reduced mobility will be exempt.

The tax has the frontal rejection of the motor bosses, despite the arguments used by the Generalitat, based on the climate emergency and the need to reduce emissions. That of the manufacturers, ANFAC, and that of the dealers, Faconauto, understand that it is not necessary to introduce an additional tax. They are based on the existence of the registration, circulation and environmental labels that qualify each car and that are being used in low-emission areas to restrict the passage of the most polluting.

The objective, explains the Secretary of Finance of the Generalitat and architect of the tax, Marta Espasa, is to put more and more obstacles to the drivers of polluting vehicles so that, little by little, they opt for a more sustainable one.

Espasa does not believe that people change the car just because they have to face a new tax, but it does believe that when someone wants to buy a new one, they tip the balance towards the least polluting.

“It was necessary to make a purely climatic tax to tax CO₂.

We use the example of the Nordic countries.

It's been done in Denmark for years ”, he adds.

The ICREA Research Professor of the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) Jeroen van den Bergh,

However, he sees it as insufficient: “Climate-related taxes can have two objectives: to stimulate the purchase of low-emission vehicles or to stimulate less use with a true fuel tax.

The problem with the proposed annual tax on vehicles is that it is not even proportional and continuous in emissions per kilometer, and therefore it does not provide any of the above incentives ”.

The professor also believes that the tax, far from raising awareness, can cause the opposite effect and give a “moral license” for the drivers of polluting vehicles to limit themselves to paying for polluting.

Climate change law: this is how it will remain after it passes through Congress

Espasa agrees that the ideal way to reduce emissions is to raise taxes on fuel (a measure envisaged by the Government, at least with regard to diesel), but states that, within the powers of the Generalitat in fiscal matters, this tax has been one of the most sensible proposals. “We want it to be an awareness tax. When you are a pioneer in something you also have to be prudent ”, explains the Secretary of the Treasury.

Barcelona, ​​as one of the cities with the most pollution in Europe and which year after year fails to comply with emissions regulations, will be a good thermometer to calculate whether or not the tax has a real effect. Miquel Ortega has a doctorate in Environmental Sciences and is responsible for the Barcelona Contamination platform. He is optimistic and defines as interesting "the finalist fund" of the tribute, which will be used in its entirety to finance environmental policies. Ortega believes that it will serve to raise awareness, but also that it falls short. And he agrees with Van der Bergh and Roca in that if what is intended is to discourage the use of the vehicle, the ideal is to raise taxes on fuel. It also aims to take note of other measures promoted in countries such as Great Britain or Singapore, where to access certain areas such as large cities by vehicle,It has to be paid.

In 2022: more vehicles taxed

The Catalan Government expects to collect 67.3 million euros from the CO₂ tribute this year.

And around 140 million in later years, explain sources from the Generalitat.

The reason why in the coming years the collection will increase significantly (from 67.3 to 140 million) is that the tax will begin, from 2023, to tax cars that emit 95 grams per square kilometer.

This year, only drivers with vehicles that pollute 120 grams will have to start paying.

So in 2022 the tax will affect between 20% and 25% more cars.

You can follow CLIMA Y MEDIO AMBIENTE on

Facebook

and

Twitter

, or sign up here to receive

our weekly newsletter

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-05-18

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.