Green tax breaks "all stick and very little carrot", says expert

Date: 10th June 2009

Government tax breaks for environmentally-responsible people remain minimal, according to research by UHY Hacker Young.

While the government has increased green taxes by £1.3 billion from £30.6 billion to £31.9 billion in the past year, it has only increased green tax breaks by £130 million.

Roy Maugham, tax partner at UHY Hacker Young in London, said: "Green taxes are increasing ten times faster than green tax breaks."

He continued: "Despite this problem receiving an enormous amount of publicity in recent years, government policy is still very much all stick and very little carrot."

The implication is that the government is neglecting to reward those actively pursuing a "green lifestyle" and is instead punishing those that do not.

The main green taxes currently include the hydrocarbon oils duty, air passenger duty, landfill tax and climate change levy.

The government is set to increase fuel duty by 2p per litre from September 2009.