engleski

The legal significance of environmental taxes in the Republic of Croatia

The ordinary way of financing government expenditures is through taxation. It is to stress the fact that the “basics” of the budget-making process consists of different types of expenditures and revenues from taxation. The best fiscal system for a country is the one that accomplishes fiscal goal of taxation, i.e. allows maximum revenue in the long run and at least administrative costs, but satisfying both efficiency and fairness. Environmental (green) should be consistent with these criteria. On one hand it is fair to tax “bads”, such as pollution or excessive use of natural resources, rather than “goods”, such as labor and profits, and on the other it is a known result in the received literature that green taxes have a positive effect on the development and diffusion of new technologies. Consequently, GDP (and possibly employment) increases will follow, which in turn secure an increase of tax revenue in the long run. Fifty years ago, pollution problems were much less serious than they are today, when they pose serious threats to human health not to mention the future generations. It seems that the time for a green tax reform has come but while the literature is already well equipped with theoretical results, more empirical studies are necessary, especially in some countries in development, such as Republic of Croatia. In the Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) is very difficult to correct for environmental externalities. Even when a green tax is introduced it will more likely produce revenue rather than cure the external effects. These taxes should have beneficial effect on the environment which should be their primary goal. For many years, OECD countries have collected excise taxes on items such as transport fuels, which are now recognised as having environmental effects. However, it was not until the early 1990s, when the Nordic countries introduced “green tax reforms”, that environmental protection became regarded as a possible objective of tax reform. Since then, a number of countries have increased existing taxes or introduced new taxes on goods and activities that damage the environment, justifying these changes in terms of their environmental benefits. Due to European Union obligations, Republic of Croatia had to strengthen both its tax effort and its tax revenue especially when it comes to environmental taxes. In this regard there may well be a role for environmental taxation, which could serve the twin targets of internalizing pollution effects and raising revenue. In the Republic of Croatia there are few environmental taxes: special taxes on motor vehicles, excise duties on energy produsts and electricity are among the most important ones. This paper provides an overview of key legal and fiscal issues in the use of taxation as an instrument of environmental policy. It discusses the choice of tax basis, and considers the value of the revenue from environmental taxes. The paper assesses key areas where environmental taxes appear to have significant potential.

environmental (green) taxes ; the Republic of Croatia ; EU

nije evidentirano