TY  - JOUR
AU  - Fullerton,Don
AU  - Leicester,Andrew
AU  - Smith,Stephen
TI  - Environmental Taxes
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14197
PY  - 2008
Y2  - July 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14197
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14197.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Don Fullerton
Department of Finance
University of Illinois
BIF Box#30 (MC520)
515 East Gregory Drive
Champaign, IL  61820
Tel: 217/244-3621
Fax: 217/244-3102
E-Mail: dfullert@illinois.edu

Andrew Leicester
Institute for Fiscal Studies
7 Ridgmount Steet
London WC1E 7AE, UK
E-Mail: andrew_l@ifs.org.uk

Stephen Smith
Department of Economics
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT, UK
E-Mail: stephen.smith@ucl.ac.uk
AB  - This chapter provides an overview of key economic issues in the use of taxation as an instrument of environmental policy in the UK. It first reviews economic arguments for using taxes and other market mechanisms in environmental policy, discusses the choice of tax base, and considers the value of the revenue from environmental taxes. It is argued that environmental tax revenues do not significantly alter economic constraints on tax policy, and that environmental taxes need to be justified primarily by the cost-effective achievement of environmental goals. The chapter then assesses key areas where environmental taxes appear to have significant potential -- including taxes on energy used by industry and households, road transport, aviation, and waste. In some of these areas, efficient environmental tax design needs to make use of a number of taxes in combination -- a "multi-part instrument".
ER  -