Green tax sought on makers, users
Finance Ministry officials and academics have urged the government to levy an environmental tax on both producers and consumers involved in water, air and other pollution. A tax on foreign tourists has also been proposed.
“We will propose to policy-makers the introduction of an environmental tax, since it is expected to promote international trade, as many countries have already imposed such a tax and use it as a tool for trade barriers,” Varathip Akayee, a senior tax expert at the Fiscal Policy Office, said yesterday.
An environmental-tax bill was approved by the former Cabinet of Abhisit Vejjajiva’s government but it was pending at the State Council, not reaching the Parliament. The State Council, the government’s legal advisory body, recently asked the Finance Ministry to reconsider the bill and resubmit to the current Cabinet, Varathip told a seminar yesterday hosted by the Thailand Development Research Institute.
Under the bill, manufacturers that discharge wastewater into rivers would be taxed. Those that discharge carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases would also be taxed, as would consumers who use products whose manufacture causes air or water pollution.
Mingsan Khaosa-ard, an economist who took part in drafting the bill, said it would be good for the country to prepare to join the many other countries that have already imposed such a tax. “It depends on the right timing, and today it may be difficult, as people have just been severely affected by floods.”
She also suggested that the government tax foreign tourists. “Imposing a Bt1,000 tax on each tourist would reduce their numbers by only 30,000 [annually], not many compared with average arrivals of 15 million each year,” she said.
She argued that while in the Kingdom, tourists also polluted water that the country had to spend money to treat.
Sumeth Sirikulchoti, a law lecturer at Thammasat University, said imposition of the new environmental levy should go a long with other tax measures the government has already planned for, such as a reduction in the corporate income-tax rate. The corporate-tax cut will result in revenue losses for the government, he said.
“I consider an environmental tax a double dividend, because the government can get more income while people will enjoy improvement to their lives from a clean environment,” he said.
The carbon tax imposed by the European Union on airliners entering its territories has been seen by many countries as a trade barrier, since it adds high costs for airlines based in other continents. However, the EU has argued for the tax on the grounds of environment issues.
