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The distributional effects of energy taxes

Author

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  • Florens Flues

    (OECD)

  • Alastair Thomas

    (OECD)

Abstract

New evidence for 21 OECD countries shows that the distributional effects of energy taxes differ by energy carrier. On an expenditure basis, taxes on transport fuels are not regressive on average, as households in lower expenditure deciles spend a lower proportion of their expenditure on taxes on transport fuels. While the unweighted 21-country average of the proportion of income spent on transport fuel taxes is highest for households in the lowest and in the middle deciles, there is heterogeneity across countries. Some countries show progressive effects of taxes on transport fuels both on an expenditure and an income basis, while others show more proportional effects or tend to place the highest burden on middle expenditure deciles. Taxes on heating fuels are slightly regressive, i.e., the percentage of expenditure spent on them decreases with expenditure. Taxes on electricity are more regressive than taxes on heating fuels. Les effets redistributifs des taxes sur l'énergie De nouvelles données portant sur 21 pays de l’OCDE montrent que les effets redistributifs des taxes sur l’énergie varient selon le produit énergétique considéré. Selon l’approche fondée sur les dépenses, les taxes sur les carburants ne sont pas régressives en moyenne, car les ménages appartenant aux déciles inférieurs de dépenses consacrent une fraction plus faible de leurs dépenses à ces taxes. Alors que la moyenne non pondérée pour 21 pays de la proportion du revenu consacrée aux taxes sur les carburants est la plus élevée pour les ménages appartenant aux déciles inférieur et moyen, il existe une hétérogénéité entre pays. Dans certains pays, les taxes sur les carburants ont des effets progressifs à la fois avec l’approche fondée sur les dépenses et sur les revenus, alors que dans d’autres, les effets sont plus proportionnels ou la charge la plus lourde pèse sur les déciles moyens de dépenses. Les taxes sur les combustibles sont légèrement régressives, c’est-à-dire que le pourcentage de dépenses qui leur est consacré diminue avec les dépenses. Les taxes sur l’électricité sont plus régressives que celles sur les combustibles.

Suggested Citation

  • Florens Flues & Alastair Thomas, 2015. "The distributional effects of energy taxes," OECD Taxation Working Papers 23, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:ctpaaa:23-en
    DOI: 10.1787/5js1qwkqqrbv-en
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    distribution services; Energy taxation;

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects

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