Taxing Energy Use A Graphical Analysis

This publication provides the first systematic statistics of effective energy tax rates – on a comparable basis - for each OECD country, together with ‘maps’ that illustrate graphically the wide variations in tax rates per unit of energy or per tonne of CO2 emissions.

This report provides a systematic analysis of the structure and level of energy taxes in OECD and selected other countries; together, they cover 80% of global energy use.

Study describing energy tax regimes of selected OECD countries to discover why and how energy is taxed. Country case studies include Australia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, USA. It highlights issues faced by governments considering new energy taxes as a way to affect energy consumption and energy-related pollution.

Energy is a critical input into the production and consumption patterns that support economic and social wellbeing. However, many forms of energy use contribute to the environmental and climate challenges societies face today. Taxation is a key tool by which governments can influence energy use to contain its environmental impacts. This report provides a systematic analysis of the structure and level of energy taxes in OECD and selected other countries; together, they cover 80% of global energy use. This report builds on the 2013 edition of Taxing Energy Use, expanding the geographic coverage of the 2013 data set to include Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa. The report describes energy use, taxation and pricing in these countries and presents detailed graphical profiles of the structure of energy use and taxation for each. The analysis reveals large differences in the taxation of energy across countries, although common patterns emerge. Transport taxes are considerably higher than in other sectors, where fuels that cause considerable harm for the environment and human health are often taxed at very low - or zero - rates. With few exceptions, countries' energy taxes do not harness the full power of taxes to reduce pollution and combat climate change.

This report measures the magnitude and coverage of taxes on energy use (energy and carbon taxes) in 42 OECD and G20 countries, representing approximately 80% of global energy use and CO2-emissions associated with energy use.

Taxing Energy Use (TEU) 2019 presents a snapshot of where countries stand in deploying energy and carbon taxes, tracks progress made, and makes actionable recommendations on how governments could do better. The report contains new and original data on energy and carbon taxes in OECD and G20 countries, and in international aviation and maritime transport.