Japan’s Democratic party proposes gradual phase in of green tax

An environment tax should be adopted in the year ending March 2012 to discourage fossil fuel consumption, but the introduction should be gradual to blunt the economic impact, Japan’s Democratic Party said. The ruling party panel set the tax’s scale at about ¥240 billion yen (US$2.9 billion). The green tax would be collected as an add-on to the existing tax on crude oil and coal. Thus, the proposed scale would translate to a 50% increase in the oil-coal tax. The team estimates that the green tax would likely come in at ¥0.79 (US$0.01) per liter for gasoline, diesel oil and kerosene. The panel’s recommendations will be submitted to the party, then to Japan’s Tax Commission. (November 26, 2010)