Some considerations on fairness and efficiency in environmentally related taxation

Abstract

This paper argues that the adoption of coherent environmental tax instruments has been hindered by insufficient fairness consideration and an ambiguous theoretical underpin. Such incoherence has led to low environmental effectiveness and consequent public opposition. Next the critical analysis of a set of aspects as they have usually been approached in textbooks is provided. After considering the rationale underpinning environmental taxation, it is argued that, in some cases, if equity concerns are brought together with efficiency ones, the decision-making process might lead to options different from the ones commonly suggested by the literature, namely in the following domains, in the decision about who is the polluter and where the responsibility cut should be drawn, as well as in possible uses for tax revenues, the admissibility of special regimes (exemptions and restrictions to tax liability) and the acceptability of subsidies.